"JOHN FERGUSON."
After the unsatisfying theatre-diet which has fallen to me of late I was
doubly glad to get my teeth into Mr. St. JOHN ERVINE'S good meaty ration at
the Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith. His theme is as old and new as Job. _John
Ferguson_ is a saintly Ulster farmer, apostle of the doctrine of non-
resistance (rare type in those parts, I understand) and eager justifier of
the ways of God to men. _Ferguson's_ beloved farm is mortgaged; foreclosure
imminent. Help is confidently expected from brother _Andrew_ in America,
but does not come. Daughter _Hannah_, sent with a message to the brutal
mortgagee, is outraged by him. Prospective son-in-law _James_, man of great
words but little heart, rushes into the night to kill the ravisher. But it
is silent son _Andrew_ (destined for the ministry) who does the killing,
because he knows _James_ to be a craven.
_John Ferguson_ urges confidently the will of God that _James_, whom he
believes blood-guilty, should not avoid arrest, and refuses to hide him.
But when young _Andrew_ insists on giving himself up to save _James_ and
his own peace the old man's faith, weakened, falters; he protests in his
anguish, but rallies to accept this last blow from the hand of God--made
none the easier to bear by the arrival, just a fatal fortnight late, of the
money from his brother, a forgetful sort of man, who had mistaken the date
of the mail. The tragic irony of the whole is skilfully heightened by the
fact that it is half-witted "_Clutie_," with his penny whistle and his
random words, who goads young _Andrew_ to his vengeance.
A grim tale finely (perhaps just a little too diffusely) told and admirably
presented. Mr. ERVINE'S most effective stroke was, I think, the character
of _James Cæsar_, with his pathetic yet revolting self-condemnation,
interpreted with a real mastery of art without artifice by Mr. J.M.
KERRIGAN, of the old band of "Irish Players." Miss MOYNA MACGILL (a name
new to me) played her _Hannah_ with an exquisite sincerity and restraint. A
particular moment when, from her hysterical laughter at the careful choice
made by her father's God of the moment for the arrival of the money, she
breaks into a passionate "It's not right! It's not just!" was very fine.
The whole character was skilfully built up. The part by no means played
itself.
Mr. HERBERT MARSHALL'S _Andrew_ was also an excellent performance. Was it
quite right, however, that the morning after the murder he should appear so
completely unruffled? (I admit I don't know my Ulster intimately). I rather
think that Mr. MILES MALLESON'S well-studied "_Clutie_" might have been a
little less coherent, with more fawning in his manner. He seemed something
too normal for his purpose in the piece. The way in which the other
characters staved off his piping was beyond all praise. I should guess,
from specimens submitted, that his repertory was not extensive.
Mr. REA, as the father, was of course competent, but surely a little
overplacid throughout. He accepted the blow of his daughter's dishonour
with scarcely a sign that submission caused him any serious pang--a seeming
indifference shared by Miss MAIRE O'NEILL (_Hannah's_ mother), who appeared
quite untroubled a few minutes after the harrowing relation, and indeed
seemed throughout to be playing too easily. Mr. RAYMOND VALENTINE had a
"fat" part as the villain, and well and fatly he played it.