OPERA HOUSE."

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1835, 22 August 1913, Page 4

OPERA HOUSE."

"MILESTONES," A play in, three acts, by Arnold Bennett and Edward Knoblauch. John Itlicad Mr. Julius Knight bamuel hibley Mr. Arthur Greenaway i?i J! r - Leslie Victor Arthur 1 reero Mr. Leonard Willey Lord Monkhurst Mr. Martin Lewis {"chard hiblcy Mr. lionald Maclcod i- j ""j ss Maggie Knight Gortrudo lJiiead Gracc Noblo Jtas.o oioley Miss Dorothy Cumming Luiily Jibs Irene Browne Ivancy Sibley Misa Emma Temple Jlon. Muriel JPyin ......... Miss Irby Mansaall Mr. Julius Knight aud tho company associated with lum .received tlio heartiest of welcomes at the Opera House last evening. .Mr. Knight has been too long absent, but lie could net have chosen a moro interesting play for his reappearance than "Milestones." With two such authors ns Mr. Bennett and Mr. Knoblauch I 111 collaboration the public was entitled to expect something beyond tlio ordinary, -ill'. Bennett we aIL know as perhaps tho most versatile and original of living English writers, and Mr. Knoblauch's "Kis- ; luet, with its riot of Oriental colour and passion, will not easily bo forgotten by thoso who saw; i ; t hero last year. And ''Milestones'* is very decidedly out of the ordinary. It is an experiment in playwriting that lias Ix'on as brilliantly successful as it is daring in conception. Its theino is old, and tho burden of it is that what you think at twenty you will not think at forty; that fashions change, but human nature remains ever ithe same; that tho progressive young fire-brand of to-day becomes tho crusted Tory of tomorrow; and that young people had much better marry to please themselves than their parents. There is a dreadful fascination. in tho subject of growing old, and yet not feeling old. In "Milestones" wo sea peoplo growing old, and grown old. We aro all undergoing tlio process, and most of us don't like it. Tlio play is. one that piques tlio curiosity in advnncc, and that having seen it lingers in tho mind a fragrant memory. Bach of tho three acts is almost a complete drama in itsolf, but tlio three weld into a perfect whole. They allow three successive generations of tlio same family, beset by tho sanio problem under varying aspccte-dn 1860, in 1885, and in 1912. Tlio moment chosen in each case is when tlio marrying age has arrived, and over each marriage there is much tlio same discord between the views of tho old peoplo and the young. Although we see history repeating itself, we aro not for a moment bored, for tho treatment is- too vital and tho issues too real.

;In 18G0 John Khead is proposing marriage to Eoso Sibley, and the Sibley family are raising objections. Khead is a partner in the iron-foundry firm of Sibley, Rhead, and Sibley. II.M.S;* Warrior, the first warship to bo built of iron, has just been comploted, anil Khead, who is go-ahead and enterprising, is all for launching out in tho building of iron ships. Tlio Sibleys tell him bluntly that ho has a "beo in his bonnet," and refuso to listen to tho idea. As a result of tho ensuing family quarrel, Gertrude Khead breaks her engagement to Samuel Sibley, and the Sibleys refuse to allow Jolun to many Rose. Twenty-fivo years have elapsed before the curtain rises again. Consequently there are great changes. Wo uro precipitated from the fashions of 18(10 to thoso of 1885, and it is difficult to say which look tho more odd. The furnishing of tho room has changed, tho bright green rep chairs and hangings have vanished and with them tho antimacassars; tho oil lamps and their great white globes, the wax fruit-under the glass shade, and the other etceteras of tho period, Tho furniture has been much .added to and the room is rather overcrowded in accordance with tho taste of the day. Olio notices n' Japanoso paper screen- in the fire-place, and Emily Khead hums strains from "Tho Mikado," where her aunt Gortrndo had sung "Juanita." It appears that in tho teeth of the family opposition John lihead had married Itose Sibley. Khead is mid-dle-aged and about to be made a baronet. His iron ships havo brought him a fortune. His daughter Emily is now marriageable, and has fallen ,in. lovo with a clever young engineer, Arthur Preecc, who has just, mado some discoveries in tho production of steel. John's ipiagincution is not so active as it was at 25, and nt 50 he is able to see nothing in steel. The upshot is thnt ho bullies Emily into marrying a fatuous peer old enough to bo hor father.

Tho third, and final, act brings matters right up to the present—or rather, to be correct, into 1912. Tho drawing-room lias undergone another complete change, and all the old mid-Victorian furnituro has been crowded out by furniture of a later style. The lights aro electric, nnd so is the bell by. the fireside. New. pictures aivs on the wall, everything is different, nnd in nothing is the dhango moro marked than in manners. Sir John has become a doddering old grandfnthoi:, • Lady Khead is a fragile and lova'blo grandmother, and Emily is a smart and well-prcsorved woman of tho world. T.h'e eternal "maiTicigo question crops up. again when Emily's daughter. Muriel engages herself to Dick Sibley, a son of the Samuel Sibley of tho first act wlho had married out of .his class at 50. Dick is an engineer, and is going to Canada, and- the family will not hear of tho marriage. But Muriel is-the girl of tho period, and refuses to listen to tlio 'objections. T.lik> tears- and obedience of 1860 and ISBS aire not in this young lady's composition, and she argues tlio point with her elders in a way that would have caused tho entire female household to swoon away a generation earlier. A crisis is averted by i'rc-ece, now a leading Labour M.P., using his influenco with Emily and Sir John, and tlio young lady gets her way without inflicting pain on tier elders.

This bald epitome of -the play can give no idea of its charm. Of tho acting it is difficult to single out individuals where all' contributed so generously. Whilo no ono part predominate, tliero aro threo characters which survive tho vicissitudes ol' time, and appear in all thre£ actsJohn lihead, Rose Sibley whom, ho marries, and Gertrude Khead, tho spinster. It thus became tho task of Air. Julius Knight, Miss Dorothy Cumming, and Mis Grace Noble to portray tho gradual change from youth to ago. It was with them in the heyday ot youth that the pieco began, and it was they whom wo saw in the poignantly beautiful stage picture, where tho old couplo are left before tho fire at the end of the day, and Aunt Gertrude sings once again a snatch of the "Juanita" of fifty years before. Mr. Knight was, if anything, at his best in the last act. Even actors, with the best spirit in tho world, canuot be all ages at once, and Mr. Knight was at tho opening hardly boyish enough in appearance, but this was amply made up for by his youthful vigour nnd enthusiasm. At tho same.time, he gave a clever indication of tho underlying strength of character of John Khead, which was later to blossom fully in the second act. As tho successful shipbuilder at his i-rime Mr. Knight could not havo been better. Frail and. waxen and bent with age, as ho is at tho end, the old fire blazes still, and tho scene between tho old man and Prcece in the last act is a Jino piece of acting. Miss Irene Browne, as lihcad's daughter Emily, occupies the centre of tho stago throughout a good • portion of tho' two last acts. She is excellent as the petulant girl who does not know whether slio is in lovo or not, and gives a capablo characterisation as Lady Monkhurst in tho final act. As Rhead's wifo Jliss Cumming gave a pleasant picture of tho woman of two generations ago with her domureness and deference to her lord and master. She was particularly good in her little revolt after fifty years of implicit obedience. To Jliss Graco Noblo fell tho task of depicting (ho pathetic iig'uro of Gertrudo Khead, tho girl with

"more brains, than the lot of us," who broke off her -engagement in 1800 nnd repented it ever since. As the old maid' of tho household she is snubbed and slighted; she sees tho young people thwarted, and would help them, but is helpless; and she sees them marry and thinks bitterly of what she has missed. Miss Noble cleverly suggested tho tragedy of this unfulfilled life, and tho depths of feeling behind the old maid's usually calm exterior. As Sanntel Sillcy, the pig-headed partner of John Khead, who goes steadily downhill, Mr. Grc-en-away was excellent. Mr. Leslie ' Victor played tho part of Nwl Pym, afterwards Lord Monkhurst, with a nico appreciation of its 'liuimour. Miss Emma Temple was capital as Nancy, the uncouth but practical and sensible Yorkshire lass whom Samuel Sibley married. Mr. Ronald Mucleod, as Nancy's son Richard, gave a capablo rendering of his part, and Mr. Martin Lewis was effective as tho selfish and

incapable Lord' Monlchurst of tile last act. Mr. Leonard Willey, .is Preece, was at his best in tho scene with Lady Mojjlihurst towards tho end of tho play. Miss Irby Marshall's Muriel was the modern independent girl <rf tho period to the,life, and amply mot tho requirements of her part. Messrs. Victor Tatnall, .1. Plnmpton WilFon, and Chos. Morse appeared 111 minor parts. The play will be reppated this evening.