"PETE" AT HIS MAJESTY'S.

Observer, Volume XXX, Issue 39, 11 June 1910, Page 9

"PETE" AT HIS MAJESTY'S.

« THIS, as most people"are aware, is a dramatised version of Hall Caine's novel; "The Manxroan." While the plot of the book has been' in the main adhered to by the .collaborators (Hall Came Louis'■" N.i Parkier), some ; alterations have been made—notably in the ending. In the novel, the conclusion is a sad one, the disgraced Kate Cregeen and the partner of her _shame,' Deemster Philip Christian, being oast out into the world together. In the play, Pete, the injured husband, forgives Philip, the man who has' wronged him, and takes his erring wife back to him. A happy ending may be more pleasing than a sad one to the ; majority of audiences, but it cannot be denied that in this case it is singularly out of drawing with the foregoing portion of the .story. If one reads his character aright, the deduction is that Pete is not the man that would forgive and forget a wrong of this kind. However, the popular taste' presumably.demands a happy ending to every play (Kipling's " Light that Failed " is a case in point), so artistic harmonies must needs be made subservient to the will of the hoi polloi, who, after all, provide the dollars. •'•> • . • • "Pete" is a play that grips. The individual who is apt to linger outside between the acts, consulting another man about a dog, doesn't unduly linger in this case. On the contrary, he is careful to get back to his seat before the curtain rises on the next act. "Pete" is, as the programme jputs it, "a play of human passions," but these passions are never exaggerated, and the drawing of the characters, is never crude. There is not a, false note struck or a false sentiment uttered throughout the whole drama. • " Pete," in a word, is a healthy play, brimful-of human interest, and it is guaranteed to rivet throughout the attention of even the most blase playgoer. • • •. " Pete " is interpreted by a strong combination specially selected by the Clarke-Meynell management. Mr H. R. Roberts sustains the part of "Pete,'' and it would be impossible to imagine a better interpretation of a role tbat would make big demands upon the reserve power of any actor. Mr Roberts accentuates to a nicety the charming and manly simplicity

of the great-hearted.Manxman. - r lnJ|f the last act, when -Kate that/the baby is not' his child, * imparts fine power and pathosinto hjstji acting- Throughout, he .lives th£?f| part. Mr Roberts has never don«'£j| anything so fine as Pete. Indeed Kit is safe to say that it is the piece of acting he has ever given us,. l& As the erring but lovable Cregeen,, Miss Beatrice .Day-, the sympathy of the audience the time she makes her first until the firtaL curtain. ing in a light vein, as demanded by ■•?& the role, her acting gradually 'in-'sjj* creases in intensity, until it minates in the confessions to Pete the last aJct. _ Miss Day adapts her- ►\JM self to the exigencies of the part in a thoroughly artistic manner. Hers is iM a_ finished and artistic £$ tion of a long and not always pleas- "3 ant role. - " • &, - ■ *5 , '<■! As Philip Christian, Mr Conway-'-J. Winsfield is occasionally inclined to f *s be stiff and lacking in force. He's improves, however, as the play pro- '"% oeeds, and in Act 111. is responsible »t'l for some really fine work. Mr Harry \'\ Sweeney gives a most artistic study. ,$ of the role of Ross Christian, the~fs shallow cousin of. the Deemster, and i>\ that sterling actor, John F. Forde,is consistently solid throughout a8 v "Y| the stern Caesar Cregeen, Kate's S& father, a religious bore, who exudes scriptural texts at every pore. % Mr Wilson Forbes must be singled $ out for congratulation on his oeedinglv clever acting as old Wil- >J$ liam. It is only a-small part,bbuyt y Mr Forbes, by his subtle treatment*, }> of it, makes it an outstanding one. ""'jS • « ' •■.; .uf Of the other ladies besides Miss *'a Day. Miss Katie Towers, another old VI; of the BrOueh-Flemming -$f combination, gives a delicious sketch" H w the excitable and good-hearted. *J Oraunie. and Miss Ethel Bashford h-*M distinctly good as Meg. One of the ' c |jS star actors whose name is not men- l >s tioned on the programme is the baby. T «| True, he hasn't a word to say, and y| that is where his merit lies. Be goodwill enough to imagine the havoc he could' '$ create by lifting upjhis voice. The " 4 » baby is as good ais gold. He'd be a*2 black-hearted and ungrateful. if he wasn't, considering the artistic' { M wanner in which Miss Day handles' if him. The scenery is very good, esytocwHy the set depicting the keep at Castle Rufihen. The next produc- "i§ tion will be Henry Arthur Jones's r ll drama " The Hypocrites." ' M