"MRS. M'SWEENEY."

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1514, 9 August 1912, Page 6

"MRS. M'SWEENEY."

"Sirs. Sl'Sweeney," a farce comedy by Thos. E. Spencer and T. Taylor. Cast:— Mr. Sl'Sweeney Mr. E. B. Russell. Pat Junior Elsie Hennie. Mike ; Horrie Dean. l'lautagenet, Fordham ...Mr. Arthur Shirley. Jack Ireeman Mr. Charles Morse. iNorah Jianstone. Miss Ulorio Uouiu. Mrs. Urcsham Miss Kdith. Lewis. Mrs. Tacitus Mies Mario Bruce. Mrii. Moddle Miss Beatrice Esmond. Miss Addwell Miss Clarissa Aviol. Mrs. M'Sjweeney Maggie Moore. "Sirs. Sl'Sweeney," the farco which served to reintroduce Sliss Slaggie Sloore to Wellington playgoers last. evening, makes no pretence to intellectual cminenco ill the. literature of the stage. It is just <v broadly comic sketch, extended into four acts, with a redundance of simple, homely comedy in the hands of simple homely people, with a central character—Sirs. Sl'Sweeney—which grows into au identity as individual, original, and as humorous as the Widow O'Brien (iu "Pun on the Bristol"), mado memorable by the late Mr. John F. Sheridan. Of plot there is just a faint suspicion, and that fades from the comprehension as tho lively Irishwoman, with a great love for Australia and Captain Cook, exerts her dominance in the action of tho comedy. Sirs. Sl'Sweeney has a warm heart, a strong will, and a lovely facility in the use of the Queen's English (or Irish), and what she does not transform into fun in the play is hardly worth mentioning. The dear old soul has a whiskyloving husband, a pair of bouncing twins with all the slangy precociousness of young Australians, and a niece, Xorah Banstone, whose arrival back .in Australia sets the ball rolling. Norah'must, of course, have a lgver, one Jack Freeman, and heT chaperone, Sirs. Greshain (a widow), gives a susceptible English noodle, Plantagenet Fordham, an opportunity to exhibit the humorous inanities of an -over-drawn re-mittance'"swell,"-who is livipg on the bounty of Sirs. Sl'Sweeney. 'It is equally obvious that the lovemaking of Norah and Jack should end happily, and that the widow and "Planty" should mako a match of it in the end, but really their affairs aro merely coincidental to the riotous fun created by Sirs. Sl'Sweeney. Whether it is her humorous recital of her experiences at an auction sale, her spirited fun-mak-ing at tho surprise party (at which the comedienne gives a screamingly funny burlesque of the "Merry Widow" waltz), her ludicrous attempt to learn golf, or her interview with Sl'Sweeney after the latter has had "a night of it," tho lively tongue and inconsequent diction of the effervescent Sirs. Sl'Sweeney suffices to keep the audience laughing heartily for a couple ol hours. Sliss Slnggic Sloore, who fits tho part to a hair, has lost none oi her facility to amuse. Her comedy is spontaneous, her personality magnetic, and every point is made without a hint of, strain. After a somewhat laboured first act,' she practically took charge, and from that out there were no dull moments. Sliss Sloore was irresistibly funny in her struggles with the conventional evening dress of society at tho surprise party, and her attitudinising at golf and before the camera was excellent fooling. In telling a female "emancipator of woman" what she thought of her, and a woman's place in the world, delighted the sympathetic audience. Sliss Sfoorc's vceal capacity has not kept pace with her vital comedy spirit,_ yet she scored in "Faddy Boy, in which she was as volatile as in her best

"Struck Oil" days. Sho also sang' "My Heart is Longing" and "I'll Coma Back to Ban try. Bay," Mr. E. B. Russell was excellent as M'Sweeney, and contributed considerably to the succoss of many of the scenes, in particular his "recovery" scone in the final act. Mr. Arthur Shirley extracted some humour from the rolo of Plantagenet Fordham, and Mr. Charles Morse made a likeable .Tack 'Freeman. Miss Glorie Gould appeared as Nova.li, Miss Edith Lewis as Mrs. Grosham, Miss Marie Bruce. as Mrs, Tacitus, and Miss Beatrice Esmond presented a capital study cf the "New 'Woman" as Mrs. Modd!<?. The twins were played by Misses, Elsie Rennio and Florrie Dean. The comedy, which was enlivened with sundry songs a.ud choruses, was well mounted. Mr. H. 1,. C. Harrison officiated as musical director.