"THE WANING SEX."

Press, Volume LXIII, Issue 19180, 10 December 1927, Page 7

"THE WANING SEX."

A MERRY COMEDY OF TO-DAY. CRYSTAL TALACE, MONDAY. The Revolution is come, n veal FrenchRussian Revolution. It is all vastly entertniniit!.:, this revolution, for tho fire and tho blood and the sword are not material one:, but symbolical, and Conrad Nagel, or rather Norma Shearer, is Bolshie-iu-chief, and Conrad represents tho. under-dog •■•/ ho gets the worst of it. "The Waning Sex" is tho title of the play which features (his pleasant and laudable object—man the under-dug, man the menial, man the nuisance, and nil good feminists will have the opportunity, at the Crystal Palace Theatre next week, of seoing their pet aversion (the menial-nuisance arrangement) crawl through five arooil reels after Norma Shearer, trying hard to do the things that she does so well; for instance, trying to be a successful barrister, to bo a clmmpion tennis player, to swim a few channels, to stand on his head; nnd fail miserably. Only one thing can this apology do, and that is make romantic love iii_ a moonlight garden, and as Mr Bernard Shaw tells us, romantic love is colosSftlly foolish. "The Waning Sex" is a gem among comedies, but, as the feminist will toll us, there is a lot of sincerity, logic, and power in its original treatment of an original theme. Ladies like Mrs Pankhurst and her daughter will tell us that man, once a breadwinner and a hunter and a number of other unnecessary things, is now a cake-eater and a lounge-lizard, a gigolo and a sheik; it is very depressing to sea tho lord of creation degenerate thus far, so woman steps into the breach, with a little of her beauty and charm still visible through the outer wall of business acumen nnd practicability, a littl-e of that foolish romance stealing through the paperß and briefs piled so forbiddingly on her busy desk. Through all the gay flippancy of this picture, its merry humour and snappy situations, shines the disturbing element of truth, and when one combines superlative comedy with the seriousness of truth, one has a picture of immense dimensions. The plot never falters, the action is invigorating and sustained until the end, the titles are hugely funny, and above there are Norma Shearer, Conrad Nagel, and the one and only George K. Arthur in tho cast to ensure its histrionic wealth. It is a battlo of the sexes, with Cupid in a ringside seat; once women used to be clinging vines, and now they're clinging oak trees, and men have enunciated their displeasure at the proceeding. "The Waning Ssx" teaches women to have more tact on the one hand, and men to mind their own business on the other. In tho course of the story, to prove feminine superiority, Miss Shoarer performs some.amazing athletic feats which give more swing to the story. "Lonesome Ladies," with Anna Q'. Nilsson bs the chief thereof—and . there are thousands of them—is the second attraction on the bill, assisted by Lewis Stone. Madame and Monsieur had arrived at the dangerous age, forty and thirty-five. Love had flown away from their hearthslde, so Monsieur dined out with the inevitable blonde, and Madame, not being a cradle-snntchor, took an apartment in the Hall of Liberty, the abode of lonesome ladies who could not keep their lords. But not for long does Anna Q. Nilsson associate horself with avowed failures; friend husband is, like the hero in the big picture, crawling round and eating out of her hand, a course which is provocative of hilarious comedy and sophisticated mannerisms from the entire east, a very refreshing and amusing little drama. , ~ Tho Symphony Orchestra, under Mr Alfred Bum plays the following musical programme: Overture, "Raymond" (Thomas), "Leonore" (Beethoven), "Suite Grave (Brahms), "Coppelia" (Delibes), The Student Prince" (Romberg), "Parade of the Victors" (Bergh), "Serenade Pastorale Millegram), "The Merry Widow" (kehar)j "There's Everything Nice About You (Wendling). Box plans are at Tho Bristol Piano Company, where seats may be reserved.