New-York tribune., 1905-08-16
A JUDGES FARCE.
Enacted Where Critics Could Not
BE Held for Contempt of Court.
London. August :

LOn0On, august a.
An English judge with a reputation for humor
IS usually spoiled by his audience. Every bar
rister considers himself under obligation TO
laugh al every Jest from the bench, and the
court loungers taking their cue from the inner
circle. are convulsed with mirth whenever the
judge tries TO be funny as he can. Criticism
IS impossible in an atmosphere of this sort The
Jokes may become feebler week after week, but
the laughter increases in volume as the 1uoSe
continues 10 disport himself and 10 dilute ms
hurnor. 4 playhouse is not a courtroom. and
when Judge writes farcical comedy ne can
not expect an audience to laugh at it from force
OF habit or out OF respect for his reputation as
a funny man The first nights performance may
be attended by many lawyers. as was the case
when the comedy Of hydro. written by Judge
Parry with assistance from Mr.. Frederick Moull-
lot yas produced at wyndham's Theatre
q night or two ago; but there are no
risks OF contempt OF court or Of prejudice
against barristers In practice If the quips ana
salies rot appreciated There must be fun
az the fair or the audience will find il dull sport
..Xyhat the Butler Saw" was not an exhilarating
farce AT Wyndhams. even if the lawyers as
senabled did clap their hands and insist upon
calling the Joint authors before the curtain at
the close of the evening. The plot was not
novel: the characters were familiar stage hg-
ures; the end of the story could be foretold from
the beginning and the humor was stale ana
fat The aristocrauc Mrs. Fleming -Smyth
might have been comic character if the judge
IN court had asked her whether the ns ne was
spelled with a ~" and a hyphen, but on the
stage she was inane creature. SO, too. the
boastful fathers eulogium of his son as
genius who had been TO Harvard and TO OK
ford and was At for nothing but an English
gentleman. might have set the courtroom in
mar ~ delivered from the bench. but from the
stage II passed as an idle echo Of time worn
Joke
The Judges farce WAS staged for a country
house which a baronet had converted into a
hydropathic establishment The scheme hao
the advantage Of accounting for motley as
sernblage OF queer people undergoing treatment
Among them were a choleric general. who had
Tnislaid regiment in South Africa and had been
promoted and sent home when he was unable TO
find IT: an 'h"-less widow from Peckham with
an unuanageable boy; a vulgar Hebraic Ger
man, who knew ''vot an Englishnan wanted {; a
baronet who had been a cab driver; champion
Of Woman's rights with propensity for writing
pamphlets: an Irishman capable of flirting with
, every woman in sight so long as he was sup
posed 10 be a bachelor, but victim Of jealousy
as soon as his wife turned up and beat him at
his own game; and a wide awake, suspicious
butler. with cockney habit OF expressing his
judgments in particularly vivid language. There
were also women OF all conditions and
ages. who were in love with the gay
Lothario Of an Irishman; and there was
parrot charged with the defence Of unprotected
innocence and virtue The parrot was indeed
the most effective character in the piece, for 1t
was the only one whose performance could not
be forecast from the outset The American
wife inevitably turned up when all the women
in the hydro were in love with her husband;
and with equal certainty she consented TO pass
a widowed sister, and amused herself with
deEterous firtations with the baronet and other
men until her husband jealous and sought
TO have an explanation with her at midnight in
her room. Inevita bly, he mistook the door. and
was seen by the butler while he was entering
the strong minded spinster's room. Then and
there the parrot screamed and bit him-the one
surprise Of the evening. and the only original
touch. The butler might have been heavily
tipped to hold his tongue but the parrot rem
ssred explanations from husband and wife in
6ispensable, and brought down the curtain with
q loud click.
The detective parrot however, could hardly
redeem a series of hackneyed farcical situa-
tions with characters so familiar these.
Something might have been said In favor of the
play if there had been wit in the lines; but
while there unceasing straining after
effect, as there always is when the judge on the
bench is trying TO be funny, there scarcely
a CLEAN Of fresh spontaneous hunor. Even
when Jokes borrowed their point was
spoiled as when somebody told the talkative
advocate Of woman's rights. Il shall lose no
time in reading the pamphlet" The jests OF the
courtroom seemed TO have lost their when
scattered broadcast through successive acts Of
light and frivolous comedy, and only playgoers
with defective memories could laugh at them.
Fortunately for the county judge Of Manches-
ter he well supported on the open
ing night by his brethren Of the bench and
bar. The Lord Chief Justice in of the
boxes; Sir Edward Clarke. the leader OF the
English bar. in Of the stalls; and the
bench and bar were well represented in the audi
epce. With such distinguished patronage from
the profession the play not allowed to fail
on the opening night; and the dissenting croak-
ers silent, if quite unconvinced that the
courtroom was the best school for playwright.
II might be a point Of etiquette for lawyers to
smile when the judge entertaining them in
his own way. but the gods of the gallery nodded
when old fashioned farce with familiar
grouping Of fantastic characters was played on
and off exhibition of the comic spirit
J. N F.