"THE GREAT ADVENTURE."

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 2265, 26 September 1914, Page 9

"THE GREAT ADVENTURE."

FASCINATING ODDITY IN PLAYS. ■ "The Great Adventure," a whimsical comedy by Arnold Bennett. Oast: — Albert Shawm ' Frcderio Hughes Ham Carve Hugh O. Buckler Dr. PascoG Prank Nell Edward Horning Horace Nightingale Janet Cannot Yiolet Paget Cyrus Catfvo Kingston Hewitt A Maid ; Eileen Eobinson Father kooe Charles liayrrenco llorioria Looo Lilian Lloyd Peter Horning Kenneth Brampton Mr. Ebag !. Arthur Cornell James Shawn Kingston Hewitt John Shawn Fiederio Hughes Mrs. Albert Shawn Tempo Piggot Lord Leonard Alcar Gerald K. Souper Mr. Texel Wilson Forbes After • witnessing last evening's performance of Arnold Bennett's altogether fascinating comedy "The Great Adventure," one feels called upon to express a deep debt of gratitude to the BucklerPaget Company. Hero is a management "with something like an ideal fairly realised. Within a fortnight we havo. been permitted the privilege of witnessing two plays by Pinero, one by Bernard Shaw, and anothor—a gem— by Arnold Bennett, all very adequately, and, in come cases most admirably, presented. There was no mistaking tho favour with which "The Great Adventure" was received last evening. Arnold Bennett's comedy is good stuff. It suggests in its make-up the daring and clevorness of Shaw with just a soupcon of J. M. Barrie, and yet it js wholly individual. Imagine an eminent artist, almost a recluse, of shiftless, careless ways, being shot along on the stream of circumstance, through being originally taken for his own valot, who attends the latter to tho death. Then, being whimsical, imagine him allowing himself to be buried in Westminster Abbey, and continuing his unobtrusive life in Putney as the valet, in company with a young lady, who pretends to be nothing more than she is—a matter-of-fact, curiously philosophical young person of the lower middle class, with a streak of the common in her composition and a heap of common sense and motherliness as compensation.. Being an artist, the man continues to .paint, and through his pictures an expert dealer loams that the artist has never been interred at Westminster Abbey, and as the dealer is in danger of being sued for selling as genuine pictures by a presumably dead artist, the latter is at length compelled to show his identification marks to an unsympathetic, but extremely credulous, world. The comedy is rich in incidents that keep, tho audience simmering, with smiles, is delightfully written, and charged with emart epigram. Aβ the artist Ham Carve, Mr. Hugh Buckler gave a thoroughly dolightttul _sketeh clean away from himself, clever in conception, perfect in execution, and_ ripened with little touches that proclaim'tho artist. Nor was Miss Paget lacking as Janet Cannot—the new woman as discovered by Arnold Bennett. She has done nothing better during tho season. A group of snap-shot characters, all exceedingly cleverly drawn, were presented by Miss Piggott, Messrs. Frank Neil, Kenneth Brampton, Charles Layrence, G. K. Souper, IL Hewitt, F. Hughes, and Arthur Cornell. It is with pleasure we loam that the comedy will bo presented again on Thursday next, the last night of the season. . This evening tho company will be seen in Brinsley Shoridau's ever-popu-lar and always welcome masterpiece, "The School For Scandal," in which Mr. Hugh Buckler will appear as Charles Surface, Miss Paget as Lady Teazle, and Mr. Ray Souper as Sir Peter Teazle. The programme for the remainder of the season will be as follows:—Monday, and Tuesday, "Sweet LavendeT , '; Wednesday, "Fanny's First Play"; and Thursday, "The Great Adventure."