“THE EDGE OF THE STORM,” AT THE DUKE OF YORK’S.

New Zealand Illustrated Sporting & Dramatic Review, Volume XII, Issue 751, 28 July 1904, Page 21

“THE EDGE OF THE STORM,” AT THE DUKE OF YORK’S.

Somehow we have come to associate Mr Forbes Robertson with classic parts, and to find him figuring as the hero of a .melodrama will mean disappointment for many That magnificent voice of his seems thrown away in colloquial conversation —we long to hear him declaiming blank verse and voicing noble sentiments, •spreading himself over a heroic passion or hymning devotion in tones and accents which no woman could listen to ■with, indifference. And yet even in melodrama Mr Robertson is a fine actor, and lie accomplishes more in the part of Jim Roulette than the average playgoer appreciates at first glance. Here is a hero whom the authoress has done her best to make ridiculous and conventional by plastering him with qualities of heart and head that only a love-sick nursery governess could accept at the dramatist's valuation. He is worshipped by the natives, adored by his bride, respected by •everybody in the Indian settlement, and is in danger of developing a swelled head. Almost any other actor would have made this paragon of all the virtues an insufferable prig ; but Mr Robertson presents him with so convincing a combination of dignity and modesty that we never regard the redoubtable Jim as other than the best' fellow that ever wore khaki ■clothes and side whiskers. If you prefer the actor with moustaches take my tip and get to the theatre in time for the prologue —it is your only chance. In the I day itself he dispenses with this adornment.

“ The Edge of the Storm ” is the middle and both ends of a melodrama. It begins with a murder and concludes with a general melee. Three attempts to take human life by means of poison, a pistol, and the knife, constitute the intermediate trimmings of the plot. The play ■opens in Hungary at the time of the great national rising in 1848. The insurgent have captured, or think they have, the great enemy of their rights and liberties, Prince Metternich, and when they discover that the supposed tyrant is a mad-cap Englishman, who has thus assisted Metternich to escape, they secure him to a pillar and promise him an unpleasant death in the morning. But Leta, the daughter of Istvan, the Magyar lead■er, has compassion on the dauntless .Jim Poulett. She looses his cords, gives him her Hungarian knife as a souvenir, and bids him escape. Unhappily, the first ■thing he does is to knife Leta’s old father, who attempts to detain him. He doesn’t know that his assailant is Leta’s father ; he doesn’t wait to see if he is badly wounded, or only scratched ; and there is no one to tell him that when Ferenz and Wilma, the nephew and niece of Istvan, appear they swear a deadly oath to be revenged on the* tiairorous Britisher.

Leta nearly succumbs to the shock, and when she recovers from a long mental illness her mind is a blank as regards the

murder she was instrumental in causing. But her cousins are inspired by a bitter, hate and a craving for vengeance. How they ascertained that the object of their' evil designs is engaged in sugar boiling at' Comarlapatian, in India, is not very clear, but they have received information to that effect, and they journey to India’s coral strand to put their purpose into execution. Jim Poulett receives them most hospitably, and for ten days they remain as guests beneath his roof. Despite their assumed names and French accents he recognises them and soon understands their object in visiting him, but so long as Ferenz alone attempts to murder him he doesn’t consider it would be handsome on his part to resent his guests’attitude. When, however, the woman Wilma takes to doctoring his coffee and nearly poisons Leta by accident, he considers it about time to order them out of his house. Leta stays on to become his wife, and as her bloodthirsty relatives consider that the marriage will assist the good cause by putting the Englishman in their power, they do not interfere with this arrangement. But they do not reckon with Leta’s adoring love for her husband, and when Ferenz returns secretly two months later to reawaken her memory as to the facts concerning her father’s death, and point out to her her duty under her oath of vendetta, she recoils from the task with horror. She will not only not take her husband’s life, but when Ferenz would shoot him down she covers him with her protecting body, and receives the bullet with which Ferenz thought to even up the family feud. Happily, the wound is not serious, and most fortunately the firing of the revolver is the prearranged signal for the French to come to the assistance of the English in the anticipated event of a native rising. Ferenz’s attack on Jim synchronised with the racial outbreak, and the French arrive only just in the nick of time to save the English settlers from extermination. Ferenz dies in helping to repel the attack, and before the fracas is over Leta is recovered sufficiently to join in the general rejoicings.

It is not a great play, it is not even a notable melodrama, but it contains a lot of good stuff and stirring incident, and Mr Forbes Robertson and his charmingwife, Miss Gertrude Elliott, work splendidly together to make the production a success. Mr G. S. Titheradge, as the Magyar leader, Mr Frank Mills as the revengeful Ferenz, and Miss Tita Brand as his determined accomplice, also rendered valuable assistance, and Mr lan Robertson, Mr Edward O’Neill, Mr Herbert Dansev, and Miss Henrietta Watson did good work in subservient parts. The audience, who testified in the heartiest manner their pleasure in welcoming Mr Robertson and

Miss Elliott back to the metropolitan stage, took most kindly to the play, and at the ’close an enthusiastic and unanimous verdict was passed in favour of the production.

“ Life,” of New York, makes the following announcement :— ‘‘ ‘ Life ’ has been sued for libel by Messrs Marc Klaw and Abraham Erlanger; .of the Theatrical Syndicate. They claim that ‘ Life ’ has damaged them a hundred thousand dollats’ worth. Whether ‘ Life ’ has damaged, or could damage, these worthy gentlemen to that extent, will in due time be determined by a jury of their superiors. Meanwhile, ‘ Life ’ will continue to criticise their shows without prejudice.”

Several American stars have been trying recently to describe their sensations on a metropolitan “ fiest night.” “It is like being run over by a locomotive,’’.said Maxine Elliott. “ It is like being torn limb from limb,” Virginia Harned says. “ I never eat anything but soup that day.” says Wilton Lackaye sententiously. “ It’s no use.”

For lovers of the drama who prefer something deeper than the trivial, frothy plays now so popular, the New Century ’Theatre in London arranges for afternoon performances of good classical plays. The “ Hippolytus ” of Euripides, translated by Dr. Gilbert Murray, was the latest piece produced by the New Century at the Lyric. Dr. Murray’s work is said to be eminently poetical, and the characters were generally well played. Public interest, however, was only moderate. “Hippolytus ” was presented as a “ live ” tragedy, not in an academic or educational manner, and that the great themes of human subjection to destiny and the impotence of men in the grip of the immortals have not lost their thrilling interest was made manifest by the intense emotion displayed by the audience. Presented (says the “ Athenaeum ”) with no remarkable accessories and no noteworthy cast, this Greek play impassions and enthrals.

The “ Town and Country Journal ” thus refers to “ Cousin Kate,” one of the comedies to be played by the Williamson Company:—“The new piece is very brightly written, and the plot is of the simplest. Heath Desmond, an artist, and Amy Spencer, a sedate and simple-minded country damsel, have a lovers’ quarrel, which is patched up by the good offices of Cousin Kate. She, however, is quite unaware that the handsome stranger she has met and fallen in love with in the train is the man whose cause she has been pleading, and it is only the inter-

vention of a mild young curate, in love with Amy, which brings Cousin Kate’s sudden love affair to a happy ending. Miss Hamer, as the heroine of the title role, played with admirable aplomb, and conveyed with subtle skill the varying emotions experienced during the brief but important hours within which the action of the piece is compressed ; while Miss Le Clercq, with her prim little ways and conscientious endeavours to do right in all her dealings with her unregenerate lover, made an excellent foil to her woman-of-the-world cousin. Mr Draycott gave a light and humorous touch to his part as Heath Desmond ; Mr Athol Forde exhibited a convincing portrait of the Rev. James Bartlett ; while Miss Champion was inclined to overdo a little the rusticity and gaucherie of the Spencers maid. Mrs Henderson (who is remembered as the popular actress, Maggie Knight * gave a delightful picture of the motherly and slightly fussy £Mrs Spencer ; while little Syd. Halliday, as her schoolboy son, made the most of the excellent opportunities offered by the part.”