Trelawny of the " Wells." By Arthur Pinero. (Lyric, Hammer-
smith.) EVEN in the 1890s, when it was written, Shaw found Pinero's peep into the 1860s sentimental and.inept, and the subsequent half-century has, I am afraid, quite staled its small bouquet. Twenty-two characters and four changes of scenery are brought together to illustrate an anecdote of Cophetua and beggar-maid. A young actress, betrothed to the son of• riches, sees her aspirations shattered by the irruption of her colleagues, tryingly tipsy, into her beloved's drawing-room. Reconciliation arrives through a dual improba- bility ; the young man himself runs mad and takes to the stage, and his flinty grandsire mellows to the lunatic extent of backing the actress in a new play.
Between longueurs and implausibilities, some clever character- sketching shows through. Miss Yvonne Mitchell cavorts delightfully as what used to be known as a " walking lady with business " ; it is always pleasing to hear this actress's sweet-and-sour voice, a sly compound of vinegar and cream. I also enjoyed Mr. Milton Rosmer, as a Crummlesian survival ; Miss Jean Cadell, a panicky spinster ; and above all Mr. Ronald Howard, who manages to ke both sensitive and sensible in the role of the young playwright, which Pinero drew from Tom Robertson. Mr. Frith Banbury, playing an ambitious tyro, caricatures without affection a part written without nicety, and Miss Barbara Jefford's Trelawny, though robust in technique, finds our laughter and tears always a little beyond her reach.
KENNETH TYNAN.
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