HIS MAJESTY’S

Sun (Auckland), Volume 1, Issue 50, 21 May 1927, Page 17

HIS MAJESTY’S

“MEET THE WIFE” Theatregoers who appreciated the sparkling wit and clever characterisations in “The Best People” will be glad to know that the same company of comedians will appear in “Meet the Wife,” at His Majesty’s Theatre tonight. The play, by Lynn Starling, is a sparkling farce comedy, studded with witty repartee and crisp dialogue, and excellent opportunities for character portrayal. Two eminently respectable persons, Gertrude Bellamy, who believes she is a widow, and Harvey Lennox, quite innocently contract a bigamous marriage. Phillip Bellamy, Gertrude’s first husband, disappeared at the time of the San Francisco earthquake, and his wife, after waiting for three whole days for him to prove he was not dead, took lier second venture. As a matter of fact, Bellamy ran away from his wife and little daughter, probably “fed up” with the former’s artificiality, and in England became a famous writer of fiction. He revisits America on a lecturing tour, and it is at that point the story opens. Mrs. Gertrude Lennox, a smart society woman, with an aesthetic pose, is on the lookout for “lions,” literary or otherwise, and she grabs Phillip Lord who, unknown to her, is her runaway husband. All unconsciously she invites him to her house, and a series of most laughable situations arise through the complications that follow. Doris, his daughter, who has grown into an adorable flapper, is the first to recognise her father. He folds her in a paternal embrace, to the shocked and indignant surprise of husband number two. Amusing situations lead up to the appearance of Gertrude, and, the climax is reached when husband number two says to husband number one, “Meet the Wife.” The cast includes Miss Marian Lord as Gertrude Lennox, Mr. Robert Adams as Victor Staunton, Mr. John Rowe as the returned husband, Miss Helen Audiffrea as Doris the daughter, Mr. William Macaulay as the second husband, Mr. Richard Ehlers as Gregory Brown, the fiancee of Doris, and others. Plans at Lewis R. Eady and Son, Ltd., until noon; later at His Majesty’s confectionery shop.