THE BROUGH SEASON.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 7329, 15 February 1902, Page 8

THE BROUGH SEASON.

i "LADY HUNTWORTH'S EXPERIMENT." Proper gratitude, the cynics notwithstanding, is not so much a lively sense of favours to come as an appreciation of benefits rcmemberecl. It was as much a realisation of the truth of this appreciation, as a desire to thoroughly exploit the farewell ; season of the Broughs, which drew a large, j and singularly enthusiastic audience to the Theatre last night, when the all-too-bnef valedictory season was opened by the production of "Lady Huntworth's Experiment." Professional farewells are rather like lovers' quarrels, they are apt to be recurrent; but this one, unfortunately for colonial playgoers, isolates itself from the generalisation, and the Broughs first farewell " is positively their last. The fashion in dramaturgy of late years has run ■ to realistic comedy, at the expense of the j farce and' the melodrama. Mr Pinero has abandoned the first-named, Mr Jones has foresworn the sack of melodrama, and started out to live cleanly, Mr Haddon Chambers, Mr Carton and Captain Basil Hood have all converged in the same direction, and the modern school of dramatic construction has produced the modern school of comedic acting. It is a phase of mumming which is more analytic than obvious, jnore impressionistic than chromolithographic, and more quiet and subtle in its effects than strenuous. This is the drama of the hour, so far as the recognised hubs of the theatrical universe are concern- ; cdV Here, in this antipodean corner, playgoers'have been dependent almost entirely upon the periodical seasons of Mr Brough and his clever wife for the presentation of the latest successes in this field of endeavour, and with their departure the outlook will be anything but cheery. The good-bye that is being said to them is almost affectionate in its personality. But that is another etorv. That "Mr and Mrs Brough's Experiment" should not have been so wholly Batisfactory as to keep them "always with, rus" is presumably resultant upon- sins of omission which are now beyond rectifying. ' "Lady Huntworth's Experiment ", is one Of Mr'Cartoo's successes, probably his ; great success, despite the temporary vogue of "The Undercurrent." Mr Carton is a witty _ian, with an instinct for dramatic construction, and he has devised a plot about which a wildly incongruous series - of situations evolve so naturally as to almost carry the paradox of conviction. Accepting has premises, his conclusions assert themselves. Ringed round about^ with a crisp and sparkling dialogue, terse in its action, well balanced! in its charaeteiusation', and appealingly human in both its language and its generalisation, his comedy becomes so nearly true as <to excuse the now-and-then conventionalities of the stage which poke an occasional -thumb into it, und to quite condone the original absurdity of its conception. Moreover, there is a note of feeling in. it, a suggestion of sentiment, a carefully represseQ leaven of morality in commission, which lend to it an additional charm. Captain Dorvaston, for instance, is a characterisation for which stage art is the better, and even Keziaih. carries a not unpathetic lesson. The comedy is clean aind' ■wiholesome, it never poses, is never artificial, and is written with a characteristically human touch. It has no raison d'etre, it is true, but being here it has every reason for staying, and the very resistibility of its conception may be construed as' an additional. 7chara>- by the average playgoer who -loves - his playwrights to dare. The production of the comedy was noticeably level in its excellence. It was played : throughout with a polish and a deliberate easa that were admirable. Mr Brough's ■ Eev Audley Pillenger was played with that delicacy of touch which pertains to most of ihis eccentric comedy characterisations, and ■was a commendably consistent %\t of work* It was kept, moreover, nicely 1 within the bounds of comedy proper; where the temptation to exaggeration would: have probably wrought the undoing of an actor of less finished methods. Mr Cecil Ward's Captain Dorvaston was quit© as great a triumph. 1% would be difficult to conceive a more thoroughly satisfactory interpretation of .the healthy, good-natured, solid-hearted but slightly " unbrilliant " English officer. It» impressed itself as a performance of t_e greatest merit. Mrs Brough's Caroline was charming. She was smoothly and; deliberately." incisive, and her -unruffled repose, tempered with a fine scorn where occasion demanded it, was most impressive. She played with a dainty reserve and an air of calm superiority that fitted' t_e character toofe than passing well. r Mr.'PeTcy Walshe, as a pessimistic domestic entitled! Gandy, supplied a comedy sketch which was grimly and irresistibly humorous. Mr Ernest Vere made a passable though not very satisfying curate. Mr Leslie Victor's Mr Crayle was " intermittent." At times he was excellent, at others only mediocre. His inebriation was obviously overdone, and falsified the character by its excess* As an exposition of habitual dissipation it would be strengthened by a little, more reserve. Mies Susie Vaughan, as the prim and proper Miss Hannah Pillenger, made all that was to be made of the part, and Miss Temple was a bright, vivacious and altogether, pleasing Lucy. Miss Gillies Brown' left convention in 'her interpretation of Keziah, and the result was highly satisfactory and entirely artistic. •" Lady Huntworth's Experiment" will be repeated to-night, and on Monday. "The Second in Command " will be staged.