HIS MAJESTY’S.

New Zealand Illustrated Sporting & Dramatic Review, Volume XX, Issue 1121, 5 October 1911, Page 16

HIS MAJESTY’S.

“THE WOMAN IN THE CASE” A POWERFUL DRAMA. Mabel Trevor and Elinor Foster, the two imported English actresses, who w r ere brought out by Clarke and Meynell in conjunction with George Willoughby, for the leading roles in “The Woman in the Case,” which is to be produced at His Majesty’s Theatre on Monday night, are said to be ideally suited to their parts. As a matter of fact, in England they were picked for their parts not only on account of their talent as actresses, but also because of their physical suitability. Miss Trevor, who plays Margaret Rolfe, the wife, is light, medium height, fair, full of virility, with a most expressive face, surmounted by a wealth of fair hair, and a delightfully soft speaking voice. Her striking personality will bring her at once into touch with the people facing the footlights. Elinor Foster, who plays Claire Forster, the adventuress, she-devil and bitter enemy of Margaret and her husband, is entirely the opposite as a type. She is tall, strongly yet lithely built, with something suggestive of the tiger about her carriage and bearing. A deep, strong speaking voice, ripe-red lips, reddish hair, and a magnetic personality, are a few of the characteristics that will impress themselves upon the audience. Represented by Elinor Foster, Claire Forster, the adventuress, will be a she-devil indeed, but a she-devil with the magnetism and witchery of a siren. The play is claimed to be an unusually fine example of the new drama, and its success throughout Great Britain and America leaves no doubt of its ready acceptance throughout Australasia. Clyde Fitch was a skilled master of technique. He knew how to build a play with a view to bringing out its greatest effects and possibilities. In “The Woman in the Case” the dramatist has daringly used his materials. He has taken two women of entirely opposite types and characteristics. He has placed them one against the other —one, with all the womanly traits of the best that is in her sex; the other, a veritable she-devil, who seeks the innocent life of a man in the frenzy of revenge. Each represents the entirely opposite point of view of womanhood. And, strangely enough, so cleverly has the dramatist done his work that each has the sympathy of the audience. Both are actuated by the one soul-stirring passion for the man they love, and from this point alone they stand on the same grouhd. The characters of Claire Forster and Margaret Rolfe are two of the most vivid creations of the dramatist’s mind. Powerful scenes and

intense situations hold ,the audience spell bound, while the staging and mounting of the piece are said to be magnificent.