THE THEATRE.
"TIGER CATS" AT THE SAVOY.
IN artistic matters the French are the best engineers in the world and here again in Tiger Cats, the first of the plays chosen for Mr. Leon M. Lion's series of special matinees, we have a play translated from the French which is a remarkable example of machine-building. Not only is the plot mechanical, but the characters, the psychology, and the emotions are equally the work of a competent engineer, and though the dialogue is often good and the quarrels between husband and wife develop sometimes with a savage intensity which grips for the moment, never for a moment do we believe in these automata as personalities, while with the same unexcited curiosity as that with which we lift the lid and inspect the workings of a grand piano we watch them responding to the levers which actuate them. There is something amazing in this masterly disregard for human nature.
To witness such a play is bearable for one reason only, namely that, under conditions such as these, it is possible to sit self-possessed and entirely undistraeted by any emotion evoked by the play and watch critically the performance of the actors ; for though no actor on earth can make a dead part live, a good actor can produce moments of life throughout the play and provide, for anyone who can enjoy it, a delight- ful exhibition of technique.
It was a pleasure in the present play to watch Miss Edith Evans in the part of the incredible Suzanne and to realize again the extraordinary skill with which she manages her voice and facial expression and builds up a personality out of small selected details. Mr. Robert Loraine displayed his virtues and failings alternately throughout the play—at one moment so obviously the actor exploiting a fine presence and voice ; at the next, carrying one away by some irresistible bit of actuality of intonation or gesture. Mr. Nicholas Hannen's part gave him little chance of showing his fine qualities and Miss Nadine March's acting, though amusing at moments, was not in itself enough to compensate for the absurdity of her part. ilierarrr Artmeritimil.
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