“Sexes and Sevens”

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 312, 24 March 1928, Page 22

“Sexes and Sevens”

Private Production in London Theatre ANTHONY PRINCEP’S BEAU GESTE Anthony Prinsep ended his long tenancy of the Globe Theatre, London, with a beau geste which yielded nearly is 1,000 for the Green Room Club Fund. Stalwart policemen were at the doors to -see that everyone who entered had duly procured a ticket beforehand, for it was a “private” performance, and the play, “Sexes and Sevens,” being an unlicensed one, the authorities were not allowing any member of the great proletariat to become corrupted unawares. Yet there were several attempts on the part of ticketiess persons to get in. and all the evening a crowd stared through the vestibule windows with a look of awe on their faces, as though they felt something very wicked was going on inside. “Sexes and Sevens” is a naughty French play, on a Leap Year theme. In other words, all the advances in a topsy-turvy love affair are made by the woman. I have never seen a play in which there were so many waiters, and, as all were play*ed by stars, the entrance of each one was a matter of excitement, says a London writer. First there was Franklin Dyall, then C. V. France, then Herbert Marshall, then Allan Aynesworth, and, finally, Sir Gerald du Mauridr —all waiters. Leslie Henson, too, was almost a waiter. He wore a beard, and was a hotel manager. The audience roared at him before he opened his mouth, though he had a perfectly straight and unfunny part. After the play there was some sea chanty singing, in which Sir Gerald du Alaurier developed unsuspected qualities as an accompanist. “Sexes and Sevens,” expurgated, will be done in Australia and New Zealand by Margaret Bannerman.