Punch (90.1886)

Mabch 6, 1886.] PUNCH, OR THE LONDON CHARIVARI.

113

VERY MUCH HARRY'D.

(A Visit to the Princess's, and a Suggestion as to how the Play came to
be Written.)

" Heney At/thoe Jones," said Wilson Barrett, one morning,
What shall I play next ? "

"Let me see," replied Heney Authoe—" you've done the
cIelssic-''

" Oh, d—ash the classic ! " exclaimed Wilson. "No more Clau-
dian and Brutus for me. And no Shakspeaee just now."

" Of course not," rejoined Heney Authoe, much relieved, as, if
Shakspeaee was to be called in, why was he summoned ? Then,
after some consideration—" They're doing a nautical subject at the
Adelphi."

"Yes,"" observed Baeeett, thoughtfully. "I almost wish—but
no "—(Jones trembled. Was W. B. meditating calling m Pettit, or
Sims, or bothP) "I think " resumed W. B., I might have done
the gay, dashing young Sailor—eh ?"

"It would have suited you down to the ground!" cried Davy
Jones, enthusiastically.

"Down to the sea, you mean," playfully returned W. Baeeett;
whereat, it being a Manager's joke, Jones went into convulsions of
laughter. When sufficiently recovered, he ventured to suggest "a
good domestic subject." . . . ,

"What! with Willaed as a Masher Villain again i exclaimed
W. Baeeett. " Won't do. It's played out."

"How about the Cromwellian periodP" said Jones, more as if
communing with himself than addressing the Manager. " I began a
sketch of a play some time ago, with Ceomwell in it."

" Yes—yes," says W. B., musingly. "Not bad. Oltvee's not
unpopular. Heney Ieving made a hit as Charles the First."
" You'd make up splendidly for Cromwell.'" insinuates Jones.
W. Baeeett turns on him a scrutinising glance. Up to now he
had had no reason to suspect Henet Authoe Jones of anything in
the way of a joke or subtle humour. For a moment Jones feels
uncomfortable and wishes he could retract.

"Make up for Cromwell, could IP" repeats Wilson, with his eye
still on the trembling Jones. "Hum! What was he like P "

"He was about your height," replies Jones, nervously, "and

about your build—and-"

"With a bottle-nose and a wart on it; hey ? " asks W. B., sternly.
"Oh dear no," Jones hastens to explain; "that was a later
Cromwell. The Cromwell I mean for you is when he was younger,
and handsome, and manly-looking."

"Ah," returns W. B., mollified, "but that isn't the Cromwell the
public expect. No—it won't do." Then suddenly, " Still—you 're
right—the period hasn't been done for a long time. Couldn't I play

a sort of Prince Rupeet, eh ?—escaping—rescuing-"

Jones saw it in a second. "My dear Baeeett, you'd make a

first-rate Prince Rupeet. Just the height, and the build, and-"

So they set to work, and Henet Authoe, oddly enough, found
some notes by him for a Cavalier play of this sort, and as it wasn't
quite what W. B. required, the latter very kindly offered to put it
into dramatic form, and to work it up with a few strong situations
that had occurred to him some time ago. So this is how The Lord
Harry came to be written, and to be played; at least the above is
not an improbable account of how it might have happened.
Lord Harry is a thoroughly interesting play for three out of five

the house—though, indeed, he did once try to do this by blazing
away at a house-top—but Miss Eastlake; though, somehow or
other, he didn't wound more than her feelings,^as she soon recovers,
and is all right for the finish.

Miss Eastlake, who was suffering from severe injury to her in-
step when I saw her, has never appeared to greater advantage than
as Esther Breane in this piece. She acts with great earnestness,
and whatever success the piece may
achieve will be mainly due to her and
Mr. Willaed, for, except to be dashing,
to escape, to rescue, to make irritatingly
long speeches just at critical moments,
when " deeds, not words," are peremp-
torily demanded, and to be called a
"rash, silly boy" (boyhood evidently
lasted over a considerable period in the
time of Ceomwell), Mr. Wilson Bae-
eett has no lights and shades of cha-
racter to delineate. Perhaps as a "rash,
silly boy," he may yet be a formidable
rival to Mr. Heney Neville ; but, as it is
not the cowl that makes the Monk, nor
the chimney-pot the situation, so it is not
the open, expansive turn-down collar
which can make either Lord Harry or
Lord Hamlet into the "rash, silly boy,"
whose reckless gallantry is to win the
men and charm the women.

The dull part of the play is that occu-
pied by the Shakspearian Clowns, Tribu-
lation and Gilead Tyzack, who are more
wearisome than the two Gobbos. Poor
Mr. Geoege Baeeett occasionally has a EasllJ Suv B°y •

bit of modern slang, such as "I'm not

quite so sure about that," introduced just to enliven his part; but
it doesn't do much.

Mr. Chaeles Coote is a complete transformation as Shekeniah
Panic: a very clever performance. Miss Lottie Venne is lost among
the Shakspearian Clowns, but has one or two good little bits with
Miss Eastlake.

The interiors in Zoyland Castle are most effectively painted, (with
the one exception of a front-scene staircase,) by Mr. Hall : Hall-
marked and Hall right; but oddly enough the Hall in Zoyland Castle
is painted by Mr. Hann, whose scenes are excellent.

There is one thing which, I would, respectfully suggest to the talented
Authors, should be omitted, and that is the prayer on the house-top.
All of us are aware that the roof is only an ingenious bit of carpentry,
that the floods are merely canvass and gauze, cleverly painted by
Mr. Hann, and as the audience is certain that Miss Eastlake is in no
real danger, as, in fact, everybody knows that the whole lot of them
are "merely pertendin'," it does grate upon a good many of them—and
the majority of theatre-goers are not stupidly squeamish on such
matters—to hear Miss Eastlake, when spread out upon the roof, and
looking up to the sky-borders, commence a prayer with a fervid
appeal to " Him who walked upon the waters," and so forth (I cannot
recall the exact words) to help her in her sore distress.

The prayer fills up an interval while the Lord Harry W. Barrett is
fetching the wounded Colonel Clynds from the garret. As the action
is arranged, if it were not for this speech, there would be an awkward
pause when Miss Eastlake is lying out to dry on the tiles. Pro-
bably she drew the Authors' attention to this at rehearsal, and said,
" I can't stop here doing nothing while he's carrying up Mr. Clynds :

so let me see—what could I do ?-Sing ?—no, I couldn't sing,—but

I might pray for help. It's the sort o' thing a strictly brought-u;
Puritan girl would do in such a difficulty as this, you know,—she 'a
be sure to pray for help, wouldn't she ? " Whereupon the Authors
admitted she was right, and Heney Authoe Jones went home, and
next day came back with the prayer, whereat everyone was delighted
and thought it just the very thing for the situation,—which I don't,
and, unless I am much mistaken, the public doesn't either.

The play is well worth seeing, but whether it is equally worth
hearing I should hesitate to affirm. Let the interest of the sensation
scene be intensified, the action modified, the prayer omitted, and
then the piece will, I feel certain, please the general public, who, I
think, are not unfairly represented by

Penn Nlbbs, the Puritan.

On the Tiles.

Acts, and then, to my thinking, the business of the one great sensa-
tional scene is too pantomimic ever to be taken seriously.

Mr. "Willaed is excellent as the Puritan Captain, with a touch
now and then of the old familiar wicked-Masher-swagger as he
makes an exit, is always taking pot-shots at Lord Harry Wilson
Barrett, and invariably missing him, finally bringing down, not

Congratulations.

Mb. Punce, who can take, just as well as give, his whack,
Is proud of being smgled out for Socialist attack;
And also from his memory will never be effaced
Being lectured by the P. M. G. on " execrable taste."

Mes. R. says she intends to be buried in the Acropolis at Woking.