ecause she refused to be made love
to on the stage by anybody else. In assuming a _role_ for which he was
incredibly ill-qualified he seemed likely to facilitate the
achievement of his purpose, namely to make the play a hopeless failure
and so secure the deliverance of his lady from the thraldom of her
mother's ambitions and set her free to marry him.

However, the failure failed to come off, and although he forgot to
remove his overcoat (containing the stolen bonds) at a critical
juncture on which the Great Situation turned--the error was so deadly
that the mother, who had stage-managed the thing and was witnessing
the first performance from a box, actually rose in her seat to correct
it--the play was a roaring success; and there was nothing for it but a
secret marriage, marred by the prospect of a two years' run "on
Broadway."

Mr. A. E. MATTHEWS, as the amateur, made extraordinarily good fun for
us; and there was something fresh in the idea of following up the
dress rehearsal with a first night. It not only gave the amateur his
chance of making the big mistake against which he had been thoroughly
warned, but our own applause allowed the company to put into practice
the lessons they had learned in those sacred conventions which
regulate the taking of a call.

There are those who say that Transatlantic humour should be
interpreted exclusively by a native cast, and that an Anglo-American
alliance is a mistake. I trust President WILSON'S recent policy will
not be affected by this view. Certainly, though the combination was
responsible for the noisiest fun of the farce, the purely American
performance of Miss MARGARET MOFFATT at the opening of the First Act
was as good as anything in the play. But happily this is not one of
those imported creations that overwhelm my uninstructed intelligence
with exotic colour and exotic slang.

Mr. EDMUND GWENN, as _Max Rosenbaum_, impresario, was in irresistible
form. Miss MARIE LOeHR, in the part of the leading lady, was at her
lightest and therefore her best; but Lady TREE (her designing mother),
though she played very hard and incisively, could scarcely have
satisfied her own very nice sense of humour with what was to be got
out of a character that resembled nothing on earth (or the Eastern
hemisphere anyhow).

In the midst of all the mirth there was a pathetic passage between a
couple of impecunious players, _Johnny Brinkley_ (played by Mr. GEORGE
ELTON, who had many good thi