MARLOW DRAMATIC CO.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1808, 22 July 1913, Page 6

MARLOW DRAMATIC CO.

"THE NIGHT SIDE OP LONDON." Tho Night Side of London," a melodrama ill four acts, by C. Watson. Cost— Manuel ErringUm Mr. Itobert Inman Sfcarmaii Mr. P. Y. Scully Oa.irns Mr. Thomas E. Tilton Herod Steiaburg Mr. Vivian Edwards Ralph Desmond Mr. ltobart Pollock Curly Dabbs D'Arcy Kchvay Ostler Jim Mr. George Doavo Jasper Mordant Mr. Gilbert Emery Naomi Merrick Miss Oriel llotson Esther DoTTingcourt Mii?s Ehvyn- Harvey Magdala Fawcett Miss ltuby Davics Harriet Spinks Miss Marcia, Rogers Leila Do Jirumo IHgs Adele Holmes Colly Merrick Miss Buby Bantsey Mrs. Errinpton .Miss Constance Crow Slithers Mies I'earl Hclmxich Writers of modern melodrama, in their anxiety' to tnko advantage of any topic which may by chanco be forccd into the focus of the public eye, particularly if it be ono calculated to harrow deeply the liner feelings and singo the sensibilities of an audience, usually over-reach themselves. This Mr. C. Watson Mill has certainly done in "The Night Side of London, a lurid melodrama, dealing frankly but superficially with tho White Slave traffic—a morbidly unhealthy j)lay hardly worth the consideration of intelligent people, and one which..should certainly not bo witnessed by the immature. "Honi soit qui mal y pense," says the programme rather smugly, but it comes down, after nil, to a representation of a vilo Svengaliliko German Jew, plying his loathsome trado in a luiidly melodramatic fashion,' with very little left to tho imagination. Such plays, even though the little virtue left in the play beoomos ultimately triumphant, can serve no purpose, because it is not charged with deep convictions that make a serious appeal to tho intellect. A Pinero, an Ibsen, or a Sudermann might deal with such an obnoxious subject subtly and interestingly enough to induce gravo thought, but here it is paraded boldly decked in all the most brilliant colours of tho melodramatic spectrum. Tho plot deals with the debasing business of Herod Steinburg, whoso lingo type-writing instruction school is merely a trap for innocent girls—the cloak for a nameless trade. IJo is fought by a young missionary in the person of Manuel Errington, whose own fiance falls into the clutches cf the German spider, and who is only saved from a miserable fato by tils heroic efforts of her lover, and tho usual comic assistant, in the perron of a Cockney chauffeur. Then tho Jew inveigles the missionary into a compromising situation with one of his vile women, and tho crowd stones him to insensibility, and subsequently lashes him to a cross conveniently placed in the middle of the road. Finally, Stcinbnrg is strangled and beaten to death by two men—one blind, the other dumb— whoso womenkind liavo l>een ruined in tho past. It is a grossly sordid story in truth. The play is capitally produced, and not at all badly actcd. Mr. Vivian Edwards presents a repellant, yet powerful, character sketch as Herod Steinburg His Svengalian make-up, his thick chuckles, and heavy Teutonic manner of speech were all parts of a sound performance. Miss Elwyn Harvey was sweet and winsome as Esther Dorringcourt, but was not always distinctly audible. As Naomi Merrick, one of the lost, Miss Oriel Ilotson lacked finesse, but was at all times propevly common and vulgar. She was at iier best in the bedroom scene. Miss Pearl llelmrich as Slithers, and Mr. D. Kelway as Curly Dabbs were quite aeoeytable in the comedy tceries, and Mr. Robert Inman made a bold, likeable hero.