“MARY ROSE”

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 708, 6 July 1929, Page 8

“MARY ROSE”

Barrie Perfectly Acted In a London Revival Certain plays are inextricably bound up in one’s mind with certain j players. Frankly, I did not think I j could ever hear to see “Mary Rose” without Fay Compton, and it was in that mood that I went to the Haymarket for the revival, writes the “Daily Mail's” theatrical critic. But—always with the exception of Miss Compton—l cannot imagine that lovely and intensely difficult part more beautifully played than it was by Angela Baddeley. She never made a false step throughout, and she played her “ghost” scene with a simplicity and sincerity that were deeply moving. Francis Lister was not only the best Simon I have seen, but incomparably the most natural Harry—the Australian soldier, grown up from the baby which the poor ghost of Mary Rose seeks up and down that eerie, empty house. Indeed, it was a notable revival, for all the parts were splendidly played by Frances Ruttledge, J. H. Roberts, Hilda Trevelyan, Morris Harvey and George Curzon. I have never been an out-and-out Barrie enthusiast, but when he is at his best, as in “Dear Brutus” and this play, he is, indeed, without a rival, j “Mary Rose” is a masterpiece.