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"THE 'PINERIAN' SPRING" AT THE COMEDY.
Mr. PINERO is temporarily Ibsenised. "_What will become of them?_"
should have been the sub-title, if not the single title, of his new
play at the "C. C. C.," or COMYNS CARR'S Comedy Theatre. Instead of
"_What will become of them?_" Mr. PINERO calls it _The Benefit of the
Doubt_, which is supposed to be a quotation from the Judge's summing
up in the Divorce Court in the case of _Allingham_ v. _Allingham_.
_Mrs. Allingham_ has sued for a divorce in consequence of her
husband's misconduct with _Mrs. Fraser_; the misconduct was not
proved, but the Judge was so severe on the conduct of _Mrs. Fraser_
that there is for her, as far as her husband, friends, family, and
Society generally are concerned, no benefit whatever to be obtained
from the existence of the doubt in question. Such is the cheerful
subject Mr. PINERO, in Ibsenitish vein, has chosen, and he has written
a series of dramatic scenes artistically developing his characters
by the most natural dialogue possible, but not, as it seems to me, by
means either most natural, or most probable. The great situation of
the piece is brought about by a gentleman (in the best sense of
the word, as far as we can judge up to this point) permitting his
infernally jealous wife--there is no other epithet for her except
"infernally"--to conceal herself on purpose to overhear a conversation
between himself and her supposed rival! Analogous situations in broad
farce and farcical comedy are frequent and permissible: but surely
not in a drama of real life. But then, I remind me, that this drama is
Ibsenitish; which does make a difference.
[Illustration: _Mr. P-n-ro_ (_making up after the portrait of Ibsen_).
"Ah! I think I'm getting uncommonly like him."]
The play is far too long, but it is admirably written and admirably
acted. The dramatist intends most of his leading characters to be
repulsively sordid, vulgar, and selfish, and those who are not so
are amiable, but weak. The first heroine, perfectly played by Miss
WINIFRID EMERY, is a fast member of a fast family as badly brought
up as _La famille Benoîton_, the vain, frivolous mother being
well portrayed by Miss LINDLEY; and the second heroine, admirably
represented by Miss LILY HANBURY, is simply an odious, jealous shrew,
and the prospect of happiness in a "place unmentionable to ears
polite" would be more probable than any happiness for a husband with
a wife like this. With neither heroine is sympathy possible. Another
splendid comedy performance is that of Miss ROSE LECLERCQ, as the
Bishop's wife, a character whose original is to be found in ANTHONY
TROLLOPE'S _Barchester Towers_, from which I will quote a specimen
passage, and ask those who have seen _The Benefit of the Doubt_
whether it does not sum up in brief Mr. PINERO'S characters of _Mrs.
Cloys_ and her husband the Bishop:--
"What did you say about it, Bishop?" asks _Mrs. Proudie_ of
her husband.
"Why," replies "her little man," "I said that I thought that
if, that is, should I--should the dean die--that is, I said I
thought----" As he went on stammering and floundering, he saw
that his wife's eye was fixed sternly on him.
And these, with the stage directions, are the _Right Rev. Dr. Cloys_
and _Mrs. Cloys_ of "St. Olpherts," and not of "Barchester"--that's
all. And this _Mrs. Proudie-Cloys_ serves as a _Dea ex machinâ_ coming
forward to offer temporary relief to the hard, austere husband _Mr.
Fraser_ (also a good performance by Mr. J. G. GRAHAME), from his very
trying wife. The Bishop is, oddly enough, a mere "lay" figure; and is
"left till called for" at the last moment.
Having already said that the acting all round is of first-class
quality, it will be superfluous to single out Mr. LEONARD BOYNE
for special praise. Yet he deserves it. Had the author given this
character an Irish title, the combination would have been perfect. Mr.
CYRIL MAUDE, as the fussy, empty-headed M.P., adds another finished
picture to his eccentric portraitures; but Mr. PINERO might have
refrained from adding to this personage's eccentricities one which
originated with Mr. CHARLES WYNDHAM'S _Headless Man_, whose system
of _memoria technica_, and recalling things by initial letters, Mr.
PINERO seems to have borrowed, in order to complete _Sir Fletcher
Portwood's_ equipment for the stage. It is as well to note this, lest
by unconscious cerebration Mr. PINERO should, in some future piece,
develope _Sir Fletcher_ into another _Mr. Hedley_, and refer to _Sir
Fletcher_ in this piece as his original.
[Illustration: "Bedad then, 'tis Misther Shawn Allingham!"]
The only pleasant scene is where, in the Second Act, two club "pals,"
_Denzil Shafto_ (Mr. J. W. PIGOTT) and _Peter Elphick_ (Mr. STUART
CHAMPION) appear, the latter with a banjo; both coming to cheer up
their unhappy friend _Misther Allingham_. These two lighten up the
gloom of the Second Act for a brief space, and then are heard no more;
yet the scene in which they strut their short ten minutes on the
stage is one of the best imagined, and best stage-managed as regards
"business," in a piece where every detail has been considered and not
a point lost. For acting, for dialogue, for character (granting these
to be what the author of their being has made them), this unpleasant
play ranks with the best of the dramas from, what _Mrs. Malaprop_
might term, "The Pinerian spring." And the end? Nothing; a blank. The
audience look at one another and say, "Well--and then?... What next?"
It is a highly-finished play without a finish. It belongs to the
new order of dramas classified under the heading of the "The Problem
Play." Whether these will pay, or not, is another problem of which the
author and manager may find a satisfactory solution.
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A Toiler to a Twitterer.
BARD MORRIS sings:--"For this of old is sure,
That change of toil is toil's sufficient cure."
Ah me! You ought to add, oh bard omniscient,
"Provided always that the pay's sufficient."
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COPYRIGHT, AND ENTERED AT STATIONERS' HALL.--Mr. HALL CAINE, author,
addressing a deputation from the Dominion, is said to have remarked
that "he felt assured of help from them, as they were _Hall
Caine-aidians_."
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QUITE NATURAL.--A composer who had taken rooms in certain mansions
in Victoria Street has given them up, as he found himself writing
everything in A Flat. Most monotonous.
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The "Hook of Holland" ought to catch some large fish. What is it
baited with?
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