JOYOUS FARCE

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 11, 28 January 1918, Page 6

JOYOUS FARCE

WHAT HAPPENED IN "CANARY COTTAGE"

"Canary Cottage," introduced to a big Wellington audience in the Grand Opera House on Saturday night, is a joyous farce of the revue older. It is sketchy, almost fragmentary iu construction, but it is consistently tuneful, brims over with fun, and fairly riots with colour. A conscientious attempt to cunnn'arise the plot might appear to provide justification for some of tlie reproofs' that have been penned by shocked critics; but it «urely is as futile to analyse farco as to search for tho precise material meaning in tho flash of an eye or the flutter of a petticoat. Canary Cottage is ar; idyllic place where Jerry Summerfield, who has a catholic taste in blondes and cannot resist brunettes, is enteitaining some, of his friends. First among them in comeliness and favour is Trixio. A motor mishap brings to the cottage Pauline and her mother. Pauline's mother is severe in the proper oldfashioned way, but Pauline must take after her father. She likes "nop" iu her love-making. Pauline happens to bo Jerry's financee; she is no less comely and desirable than Trixie. and Jerry cannot bring himself to relinquish either of them. So he tells the bold lies ihat the occasion demands, and is vmnished speedily by the arrival of Blanche, a passionate lady who may bo classed among his past mistakes. After that the proceedings develop into a tangle of incongruities and Vneel absurdities, tuneful, bright, and funny. Everybody stays for the liitrht at Canary Cottage, and there are incidents connected with a ladder and an upstairs window. ' Tho situation reaches a point, indeed, where it is considered dosirahle for the action to sro back on itself in order that the audience may understand clearly what happened on the other side of the Window, ivhere .Terry was finding the protection that he needed. It is all highly ridiculous, but it is very entertaining too. | The members of the Williamson Musical Comedy Company played this farce in charming form. Miss Maude Fane, as Paulino, was just as dainty and delightful as ever. She was gay, saucy, and piquant, and her voicc did more than justice to the songs that fell tocher lot. Jerry's lack of constancy, otherwise inexplicable, was accounted for by Mis? Cjcil Bradley, who was a merry, tuneful, and bewitching Trixie. She had a large share of the work, in music and dialogue, and was always' pleasing. Miss Connie Ediss, as Blanche, had a part that suited admirably her gift for-being exceedingly funny in the lon r comedian manner. Her song, "Follow the Cook," was one of the chief successes of the evening, and she left a trail of laughter wherever she moved. Mr. William Greene, as Jerry Summerfield, was effective without being brilliant. Mr. Alfred Frith, as the husband of Blanche, had a straight comedy part, and as usual he was overwhelmingly funny. He has the faculty for provoking laughter without obvious effort that belongs to tho special few, and he and Miss Ediss in combination make as clever a pair of comedians as one would wish to see, They had capable support from Mr. Field Fisher, as a burlesque chauffeur with a most effective mako-up. Other members of the company had lighter parts, and the strong chorus provided a very fine setting. The musical numbers, which need not be mentioned in detail, comprised many solos, duets, and choruses, ranging from ballad to burlesque. They were generally melodious, and included one or two really catchy airs. Their success was made tho more emphatic by splendid staging and a truly wonderful display of pretty dresses. Some of tho frocks were triumphs, and from the masses of blended colour there could he drawn, it was hinted, information as to the movoment of the fashions. Male members of the audience, at any rate, were more interested in the movements of tho ballet. Among tho dances was a particularly effective story without words, "The Cat and the Canary," by "Miss Madge Elliott and Mr. JackHooker, who gave a very graceful and effective interpretation of an artistic conception. "Canary Cottage" will be repeated each evening until Saturday, when the company will closo the present season with a revival of the popular musical comedy, "So Long, Letty."