HIS MAJESTY’S

Sun (Auckland), Volume 1, Issue 66, 9 June 1927, Page 15

HIS MAJESTY’S

“A LITTLE BIT OF FLUFF” “A Little Bit of Fluff” will bring back many memories to the men who formed the New Zealand Division that were in the fighting on the Western Front. It was first produced at the Gaiety Theatre, London, with Jose Collins in thfe leading part. It is one of those few plays that afford the playgoer a really good and healthy laugh, and just as it caused many a soldier, home on leave .during the war, to forget the horrors of fighting and discomforts of trench warfare life, so it caused many Aucklanders to forget their troubles last night, when it was produced at His Majesty’s Theatre by Nellie Bramley and Company. It is somewhat strange that no other touring company that has been in New Zealand has not hit upon this excellent farce as a tonic for playgoers. The play is a story of a who comes home and believes his wife to be away from home. Released from his better half’s authority he determines to have a night out. He does. He dines and dances with what he terms “a little bit of fluff.” Unfortunately for him, when he arrives home shortly after the milkman has called, he finds his wife waiting for him. At this stage the plot begins to thicken. His groping about for an impromptu explanation is a real work of art. And if it had not been for the fact that the girl had left a £SOO pearl necklace in his pocket, things would have been all right. His wife discovers it and asks him why lie bought her such a lovely present. He then has to face the bill of replacing it. As a way to get the money, he decides that he was injured in a motor smash, and drags a friend of his, who is a missionary, away from his mission to help him to hoodwink the doctor and inspector of Claims, and between them they make a most delightful bungle of the whole thing. In this production Miss Nellie Bramley, as ever, is the dominating character. She gives a finished performance, although as Pamela, the wife, she was not so much the one central figure os usual. Mr Bret Randall, as the innocent missionary, is responsible for a large measure of the success that the production has experienced. His prejudice against little bits of fluff and his perpetual “impediment of impending disaster” being the constant source of merriment. Mr. George Hewlett played the part of the husband with enthusiasm. Miss Millie Carlton, Miss Marie Dalton, Miss Mabel Gower, Miss Eve Dawiiay, Mr. John Galway and Mr. Robert Purdie fitted very satisfactorily into the general tangle of hilarity. The play will be produced again this evening, and to-morrow “Peg O’ My Heart” will commence a season of two nights.