"MAN & SUPERMAN."

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1847, 5 September 1913, Page 8

"MAN & SUPERMAN."

•T. C. WILLIAMSON'S COMEDY COMPANY. k "Man and Superman," a oomedy and ' a philosophy,. by G. Bernard Shawi i Cast:— John Tommer Juliue Kniriit ltoebuck Hamsdon Jjcelie Victor Ootavma Kolmison Martin Lewis Henry Btraker . Arthur Qrcenaway Hoctor Malono Leonard W illcy Mr. ilailono, son J, Plimpton Wilson Mrs. W'hitcfield Maggie Knight s Violet ltoMneon: Mary Goulden l Miss Burma Tomplo Parlour Mlaad Dorothy Oumming 5 Ann W'hiteileld Irene Browne s . t _ "Good plays, that's what we want," is tho cry of every Australian management year in year out, as they try out tho improbable and sometimes the impossible between revivals. Voices have cried out in tho wilderness for Sliaw, Galsworthy, Ibsen, and Syngo. Yet the indiscriminate advisers of producers have doubted the capacity of those writers to appeal to a wido enough section of tho community to satisfy the bos office. For years tho public at Homo and in America had to bo content with the reading of them, until tho era of thoso bravo "littlo theatres" comf nienccd, and to the surprise of the j ninny, Shaw was found to be quite play--1 able from the actor's point of view, pay--1 able from tho manager's, and highly cni joyablo from the public's. Though Shaw may be said to liavo cut and' slashed at convention, stabbed tradition . .in the. yitals, and ruthlessly cut tho romance out of life, no one can bo permitted to question tho virility of tho critic-playwright's intellect, tho pungenoy of his caustic humour, and tho daring originality of his outlook on affairs mundane as embodied in his works. One may bo excused for doubting if Shaw's plays are really plays, and not preachments, as most of them exhibit patches of his own acid philosophy, which burns off the veneer of sham and b humbug from society, and exhibits it t in its barest bones to the disillusioned, l Ho has written: "To me the tragedy 3 and comedy of life, lie in the consej quences, sometimes terrible, sometimes 3 ludicrous, of our persistent attempts to found our institutions on tho ideals suggested to our imaginations by our selfsatisfied passions, instead of on a genus inely scientific natural history." And s this ho persistently preaches in tho in- _ dignant speeches given to many of his (. characters in his twenty odd plays. . Though ho has written so much and so j well over nigh a score of years, the 5 Wellington public woro not permitted (. to see a Shaw play professionally prel sented until last evening, when "Man I and Suporman" was performed, by tlio _ Williamson Comedy Company, headed , by Mr. Julius Knight and Miss Ireno , Browne, at the Opera House. "Man s and Superman" is a thoroughly good - comedy, rich in delicious surprises, lib- , erally studded with 'caustic epigrams, a Tliero may bo some littlo curiosity as 1 to the manner in which the. play was b received. It was to them a new flavour, 2 tho taste .for which many imagined . they would have to acquire 1 aud they were apparently delighted b to realise that it was extremely, pmlat- , able at tlio very first mouthful. There r is rattier less story in "Man and Super- , man" than in most of Shaw's successful - plays, to quote "Arms and the Man," s Captain Brassbound's Conversion," i and "Tho Showing-Up of Blanco Posnot." Even as his latest play is built oil tlio sohool-book story of "Androcles a.nd tho Lion," so in '(Man t and Superman" a sex treatise is based on tho spider ajid tho fly legend, with man b (t'ho fly) as the essential plaything, and fundamental desiro of the awful hobgoblin of a spider—woman. He may wriggle and struggle, as did bold, olevor, freedom-loving John Tanner,, but the net is spread, and though ho sees its meshes and knows tlio danger they imply, lie must perforce submit to capture at tho hands of that' most alluring liar and hy|wcrite,. Ann Whliiteficld. All else is incidental to tho chase ajul the capture. The comody was capitally played on the whole, though by no means a perfect performance. Owing to recefit changes in the oast, the nrompter was a person of importance, and a recalcitrant curtain did riot improve the actends. Mr.' Knight showed excellent comody form as that irrepressible reformer and egotist John- Tanner, exhibiting a lighter touch than was thought to bo embodied in his histrionic composition, and giving pointed meaning to tho witty dialogue ho had charge of. He was particularly good-in tho amusing scene; with his chauffeur, 'Enerv Straker (Sir. A. E. Greonaway), and later in the final scene with Ann Whitefield. In tho latter role, Miss Irono Browne w'us fascinatingly effective. She weaves her web dolicately' and with'subtlety, uses her soft con-tralto-toned voice effectively and without affectation. She lied beautifully throughout, and was over a hypocrito charming." Air. Leslie Victor gavo a sound and legitimate character sketch as that porsistnntly indignant old party, Mr. Roebuck Ramsden, and Mr. Martin Lewis was an adniirablo "Tavv" Robinson. Miss Maggie Knight gave a delichtful sketch of weak-minded Airs. Whitefield, who is absolutely dominated by her clover daughter, mid Miss Mnry Goulden looked fresh and youthful, and acted brightly as Violet Robinson. Messrs. A. TC. Greenawav. Leonard Willey, and J. Plumpton Wilson were responsible for good work in their respective parts. "Man and Superman" will be played again this evening, and, for tho last time, to-morrow ovoning.

For Cblldren'a Hacking Cough at Niglit, 1 Woods' Great Peppermint Cure. Is. Gd.» i