"FANNY'S FIRST PLAY"

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 2260, 21 September 1914, Page 3

"FANNY'S FIRST PLAY"

■V-; REMARKABLE BERNARD SHAW .INVENTION "Fanny's First Play," a comedy bj George Bernard Shaw. Cast:— S? oil i :s £X?y <u ; d ■ •" Wilsott Forbei Count 0 Dowda Gerald Kay Sounei fanny 0 Dowda, uVta.n Lloyt Mi,. ■ 'lrotlcr prank Kei Mr. Yaughan Horace Nightingab W- «<""> v,- •• Kingston, Hewif £"=£'",? ,• Hugh Buoklei DroDetaey Eileen Kobinsor jVargarct Knox Violot Pa»el Licut*n«nt DuvaUct Kingston Hcwit Bobl> y Kenneth Brampton .There was a time when the plays and preachments of that Irish cynic and Socialist,. George Bernard Shaw, were considered by most authorities to be unplayable, rot because actors could not bs found to interpret the characters adequately, but chiefly because they wore so refreshingly unconventional. His vital style of calling a spade a spade, in speaking what was generally held to be the unspeakable, and his arresting theories on social and' moral questions slashed ajid kicked at'the'very soul of convention and prudery. Shaw's startling gospel, wildly extravagant in the moras of thought urged, were certainly thehvest attack on the' cant and humbug of a decadent age on record, so alive indeed that stage societies began to study and perforin them privately where the censor obtruded and publicly when he did not. A cult arose in London that glorified Shaw, and the now school of. realistic writers he led, and gradually the plays becamo accepted as playable in the ordinary way. They came as a-.series of shocks, especially his "plays unpleasant" and,"plays for Puritans"—but the shocks were not without, a. pleasurable exhilaration, whilst tho manner of their application was always ingenious and entertaining to tho intellectual, if disagreeable to some. His - originality consists largely in ''taking the lid off the brain-pot'' and saying those things which many:people think, but do not say, .and his talent lies in.a fertile invention that supplies the correct setting for tho proper conveyance of his explosive doctrines. In. "Fanny's First Play," submitted by the Bucklcr-Pagot Comedy Company on Saturday evening to a packed Grand Opera House, we were privileged to see Shaw, the playwright, at a. later stage of his development— a stage when lie had realised that something should be conceded to a public other than Socialistic preachments, and '.when, he had realised that it was rather more pleasant to be held in popular favour with theatre-goers. generally than' to be . theme for discussions by Fabian Societies. "Fanny's First Play" '-is a thoroughly, delightful entertainment, and was-.hugely' enjoyed, by Saturday's big audience, which''found- itself listening . eagerly . that: it ■ \ might not miss ' a word. ■ The idea of the play is acutely original. Count 0 Dowda. is a,- very:..- estimable old gentleman with an abhorrence for everything inodern and'anything English, who dresses in tho satins and laces of the early.Georges, who, admiring the music of (Jimarosa and I'ergolesil findsBeethoven coarse and plebeian. Ho has a.daughter. This is Fanny; and Fanny had written a play.. When her indulgent father asks her to name a birthday present she suggests, that her play shall be produced with real actors and before real critics, who are duly secured by the impresario .Savoyard." This is all set/forth : in a cleverly-writ-ten induction,'preceding Fanny's threoaet play. The play itself is a gem in its ' way—a play, of character types, in which youth lias a sby at the' cant which is alleged (by Shaw) to underlie a good deal of the dull respectability of lite. .It is the story, in brief, of two middle-class London families, tho heads of which are the firm Messrs Gilbey and Knox, eminently respectable gentlemen, with heavily respectable wives. There comes a day when they find thoir world crashing down upon them. Young' Bobby Gilbey_ has been gaoled for being drunk and disorderly, whilst Margaret, the,pretty daughter of the Knoxes, has done time in Holloway gaol for assaulting the police. The worst of it is that' Bobby bad been arrested with loud, but loving, Dora Delaney ("a daughter of joy"), and.Margaret's escapade has been ..in an innocent and quite harmless frolic with a polite Frenchman. This social earthquake finds the old peoplo utterly unable to find safe ground, as both of .the younger parties (who have been engaged to one another), are satis-, lied that their escapades and'their consequences mean a strengthening of thoir respective characters. Margaret's "expression of herself" consisted in leaving a prayer meeting, and going to a theatre, where she meets a Frenchman, and together they go to a public dannehall, where (being boat-race night) the hilarity of the festivities attracts the attention of the' police. ' In the snuffle Margaret knocks out two of a policeman's teeth, and in describing the incident, said: "I heard words coming out of my mouth that I didn't know I knew." Then comes the meetiug of the. two old couples, the amusing meeting' 3f the young people and their "prison friends" in tho house of the Gilbeys, where the one touch of refinement is represented by Juggins, the butler, who, in a thoroughly Shavian manner, turns out to be the brother of a duke, and who, when many amusing conversations have somewhat cleared the air, linds in Margaret the girl of his blueblooded heart. At tho close ; .of tho play, Count O'Dowda and the critics reassemble. The former is shocked • at the play his daughter has written, and the critics—who are not. cognisant of the authorship—are vague as to how to place it. This is Shaw's playful satire 311 the critics, and is every bit as amusing as the play itself. Finally, Fanny emerges, confesses to liei offence, and explains that it is born of her experiences as a suffragette n'ho had "done a month" and had been forcibly fed. There is then the warmest congratulations from the critics, liorrified surprise and indignation from the O'Dowda and—curtain. . j The play is most admirably acted I throughout. Mr. Hugh Buckler conveyed all the restraint and perfect breeding of ■ ducal blood as Juggins, Mid his admirable repose and striking lppearance were in. high relief always. Mr. Buckler's one fault is that when lie has a lengthy speech he is inclined to talk too .quickly to be heard distinctly. Miss Violet Paget was delightfully vivacious- and njatter-of-fact as .Mar- ' garot, and her" scene with her parents on her return from gaol was one of the livest in the performance. Capital iind distinct characterisations were liven by Mr. Arthur ■■ Cornell as Mr. Gilbey, and Mr. Charles Lawronce as Mr. Knox. Miss Teinpe Piggot drew a, remarkahly faithful portrait of Mrs. Knox, tho religious lady who had "that happiness within her" which made her » consummate bore to all others. Miss Nettal Ralston was not so sure as Mrs. Gilbey, and lacked the mature habit for one of such years. Mr. Kenneth Brampton got every ounce out of Bobby 3ilbey without a strain. His scenes with. Juggins and _ Margaret _' were imoiig tho most quaintly amusing in the play. The restraint and gentlemanly manner of Mr. Kingston Hewitt is Lieutenant Duvallet contributed to i really _ excellent sketch, that could very easily have been overdone. Durallet's interesting -speech about the English was excellently delivered, however false the basis of his deductions may have been. Miss Eileen Robinson lias an exceptionally fine chance as "darling" Dora Delaney, a common jnough type in London, and was becomiigly loud, vulgar, and familiar. In the induction and epilogue tho Dount O'Dowda was played with rare

distinction by Mr. Kay Souper, whose objurgations against all things modern (and therefore vulgar) were delivered with a refined-and easy grace in exact conformity with the character. Miss Lilian Lloyd made Fanny a sweet arid interesting girl, and Mr. Wilson Forbes was weir placed as Savoyard. The critics were impersonated by Mr. Frank Neil, H. Nightingale, Kingston Hewitt,, and F. Hughes. At least two of thein wore palpally made up as well-known critics in Sydney (where the play had a long ran). ."Fanny's First Play" is to be played again this evening, and to-morrow and on Wednesday evenings we are to see "The- Gay Lord Quex," another of Pinero's delightful comedies of a decade and a half ago, and revived recently in London with success.