New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1901-05-13
LONDON NOTES.
4 NEW COMEDY OF MANNERS rRrsry
COMIC OPERA-WATER COLoRs
London. Nav /

Lefty OF style required for comedy Of manners
of the Moliere type. The Man from Blankley's"
IS roughly oescrloed by the author as a play
and is regarded by many critics as a farce with
caricatures or burlesque figures worthy Of I'm
Maurler; but in reality II is a good huunored
sparkling satire on middle class manners. There
is the slenderest possible plot and there is little
action; and while the characters are broadly
sketched, they are revealed mainly bv their
manners lnasmuch as the pivot on which the
comedy turns is the eccentric idea OF a hired
guest at dinner party, there is a series Of gro
tesque situations With farcical effects caused nv
the mistaken identity OF a lord who has entered
the wrong house. There is sustained nerrinent
over the drollery of the piece and the vulgarity
Of middle class Alterations and ambitions II
is not however, the thoughtless laughter excited
by ordinary farce II is the thoughtful merri-
nent produced by the genuine. artistic comedy
Of manners, in which the mirror is held I'D be-
fore the vagaries and puerile vanities of the in
termediate social world described by Mr.. George
Gissing in novels like The Whirlpool" 1t is
bright and amusing comedy of an unusual class
and its interest depends neither upon plot nor
characters. but solely upon the manners. which
stand out in fun relief
Americans may not be aware of it, but there
IS stronger superstition respecting the number
thirteen in English dining rooms than in their
has either been laughed down or stamped out
by organized effort of Thirteen clubs The Mon
tague Tidmarshes of Mr.. Anstey's play are true
10 English life in their fantastic dread Of bad
form in having thirteen guests at table. When
a declinaton has been received too late in the
day u enable the hostess 10 secure a substitute
by invitation. one is hired from Blankley the
universal provider. When there is a second de-
fection. the order is countermanded. hut there
is uncertainty respecting the delivery of the
message, and the hostess is prepared either for
a party Of twelve If the man from Blankley's
does not come. or for fourteen if he does appear
for the governess is detailed TO go down with
him in an emergency. Ten guests are received
in the drawing room by the two Montague lid
marshes, and then there is a long pause. Sud
denly the thirteenth, Lord Strathpeffer is an
nounced in stentorian tones by the butler who
has been hired for the occasion. The peer has
been invited To dinner by Professor Cartouche
a learned Psychologist next door. but has mis-
taken the house in a fog. As he has never seen
the professor. he is not on his guard against
Mr.. Montague Tidmarsh who in his turn infers
that II is the man from Blankley's The only
person in the room whom the Scotch peer knows
is the well born governess and he takes her
down TO dinner, for while the hostess feels COM
PEELED place the so-called lord at her right
she cannot consent to go down with the
from Blankley's who she thinks has overdone
his part as hireling in assuming a title.
AS the first act presents the drawing room
scene before the dinner is announced, the second
act is staged for the dining room, with fourteen
at a round table, and with the pcrnpous butler
and the serving women changing the courses.
u is q protracted dinner. with snatches Of con-
versation from one couple after another. reveal
ing the mannerisms and peouliarities Of middle
who cannot conceal his servfe satisfaction over
breathing the same atmosphere as a real lord
There is the sordid. suspicious suburban wife
There are TWO spinsters, one hysterical over the
ailments Of a sick cOckatoo and the other gush-
ing with sentmentality. There IS a melancholy
jeremiah Ditchwater, croakng over the state
of society and politics and there is a ponderish
Bodhsh, talking in a circle, while empty
headed Policy laughs immoderately over his
own Jokes. The host is agitated over the
masquerade Of a hireling a lord and the
hostess hardly notices her titled neighbor. ex-
cept 10 warn him that there is not enough
champagne to go around. and that he is to talk
as little as possible and not 10 betray himself The
manners Of this motley assemblage are revealed
in flashes Of ingenious dialogue and there is a
defuy managed contrast between the vulgarity
q the company and the only well bred persons
the table the lord and the governess. The
second act ends with the withdrawal Of the
women and a smoking room tangle and the
third act reverts TO the drawing room, where
the privileged guest is alternately reproached
for being the man from BIankley's and OBJ
sequiously hattered when his identity is discov-
cred. The curtain is finally r1ng down upon
love scene between Lord Strathpeffer and the
governess Of which the Montague Tidmarshes
are amazed Witnesses
IN this complete record of a single evening in
a Bayswater mansion there is satirical portrait
urs Of snobbishness. arrogance and underbred
servility rank. Thackeray, Dickens and
Gissing have pointed the moral and adorned the
tale, but the exposure of besetting London sins
cannot be too frequent, and II is the high priv
ilege Of the playwright TO produce in comedy
q manners stage pictures with exaggerated por-
traits and to iumne them with flashes OF wit
and sdelights Of common sense The satire is
effective. and without venom. when genial
comedian as Mr.. Charles Hawtrey plays the
leading part. This actor, whom Americans are
10 during the autumn in The Messenger
from Mars" and probab bly, IN The Man from
Bankey's" also. has the rare art Of concealing
his art His method is quiet but subtle and
unconventional: and by sheer force OF natural
ness he contrives to render unconvincing
part ineligible and reasonable BY few deli
cate touches he explains the mistaken identity
OF Lord strathpeffer. and leaves him bewildered
and in the dark when his heartless hostess af-
fronts him In whispered asdes while she is
joying the envied distinction Of entertaining
titled guest and cutting a great figure among
her acquaintances; and his laughter when the
secret is out is as unaffected as his courtship or
the gcverness While Mr.. Hawtrey lacks Mr..
Charles Wyndham's range and resource as a