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_The Cabinet Minister_
[Illustration]
_Arthur W. Pinero_
_THE CABINET MINISTER_
_THE PLAYS OF ARTHUR W. PINERO._
IN MONTHLY VOLUMES.
Price _1s. 6d._, paper; _2s. 6 d._, cloth.
1. _+The Times.+ A Comedy in Four Acts._
2. _+The Profligate.+ A Play in Four Acts. With a Portrait, and
a Preface by Malcolm C. Salaman._
3. _+The Cabinet Minister.+ A Farce in Four Acts. With an
Introductory Note by Malcolm C. Salaman._
4. _+The Hobby Horse.+ [Ready February._
_To be followed by "Lady Bountiful," "Dandy Dick," "The Magistrate,"
"The Schoolmistress," "The Weaker Sex," "Lords and Commons," "The
Squire," and "Sweet Lavender."_
THE CABINET MINISTER
A FARCE
In Four Acts
By ARTHUR W. PINERO
LONDON: WILLIAM HEINEMANN
MDCCCXCII
COPYRIGHT, JANUARY 1892.
_All rights reserved._
_Entered at Stationers' Hall._
_Entered at the Library of Congress, Washington, U.S.A._
INTRODUCTORY NOTE
It is well known that Mr. Pinero holds decided views of his own as to
the nature and function of farce; indeed, he claims for it a wider scope
and a more comprehensive purpose than have ever been associated with
farce of the old Adelphi type, or the more modern genus of the Palais
Royal. He has openly expressed his opinion that farce must gradually
become the modern equivalent of comedy, since the present being an age
of sentiment rather than of manners, the comic playwright must of
necessity seek his humour in the exaggeration of sentiment. Thus Mr.
Pinero holds that farce should treat of probable people placed in
possible circumstances, but regarded from a point of view which
exaggerates their sentiments and magnifies their foibles. In this light
it is permitted to this class of play, not only to deal with ridiculous
incongruities of incident and character, but to satirise society, and to
wring laughter from those possible distresses of life which might trace
their origin to fallacies of feeling and extravagances of motive.
"The Cabinet Minister" is the latest of Mr. Pinero's series of farces,
and it may be regarded as the direct development of ideas which he began
to put into practice when he wrote "The Magistrate." Since then these
ideas have undergone a process of gradual evolution, which may be
clearly traced through the successive productions of "The
Schoolmistress," "Dandy Dick," and "The Cabinet Minister," in each of
which it will be seen that the author has aimed less at the exposition
of a plot than at the satirising of particular types of character in a
possible social atmosphere.
"The Cabinet Minister" was written early in 1889, and produced by Mrs.
John Wood and Mr. Arthur Chudleigh at the Court Theatre, on April 23,
1890.
* * * * *
The following is a copy of the Programme:--
ROYAL COURT THEATRE.
UNDER THE MANAGEMENT OF MRS. JOHN WOOD.
ON WEDNESDAY, APRIL 23rd,
At 8 o'clock,
WILL BE ACTED FOR THE FIRST TIME
AN ORIGINAL FARCE IN FOUR ACTS, CALLED
THE CABINET MINISTER,
BY
A. W. PINERO.
EARL OF DRUMDURRIS
(in the Guards) Mr. RICHARD SAUNDERS.
VISCOUNT ABERBROTHOCK
(his Son) * * * *
RIGHT HON. SIR JULIAN TWOMBLEY, G.C.M.G., M.P.
(Secretary of State for the ---- Department) Mr. ARTHUR CECIL.
BROOKE TWOMBLEY (his Son) Mr. E. ALLAN AYNESWORTH.
MACPHAIL OF BALLOCHEEVIN Mr. BRANDON THOMAS.
MR. JOSEPH LEBANON Mr. WEEDON GROSSMITH.
VALENTINE WHITE
(Lady Twombley's Nephew) Mr. HERBERT WARING.
MR. MITFORD[A]
(Sir Julian's Private Secretary) Mr. FRANK FARREN.
THE MUNKITTRICK Mr. JOHN CLULOW.
PROBYN (A Servant) Mr. ERNEST PATON.
DOWAGER COUNTESS OF DRUMDURRIS Miss R. G. LE THIERE.
LADY EUPHEMIA VIBART (her Daughter) Miss ISABEL ELLISSEN.
COUNTESS OF DRUMDURRIS Miss EVA MOORE.
LADY TWOMBLEY Mrs. JOHN WOOD.
IMOGEN (her Daughter) Miss FLORENCE TANNER.
LADY MACPHAIL Mrs. EDMUND PHELPS.
HON. MRS. GAYLUSTRE
(a Young Widow trading as Mauricette
et Cie., 17A, Plunkett Street, Mayfair) Miss ROSINA FILIPPI.
ANGELE Miss MARIANNE CALDWELL.
MISS MUNKITTRICK Miss FLORENCE HARRINGTON.
[A] _Subsequently changed to_ MELTON.
ACT I.
DEBT.
_At_ Sir JULIAN TWOMBLEY'S, _Chesterfield Gardens. May._