VIEWING A HARE.
(And the Prospect of a Good Run.)
The Dramatic Arthurs Society is having a nice time of it just now with Arthur Pinero, Arthur Jones, Arthur Law, Arthur Roberts, King Arthur, at the Lyceum, and Arthur à Becket at the Garrick Theatre, where Faded Flowers, revived, are once again blooming. It is a pretty piece, well played by Mr. Arthur Bourchier—encore un Arthur—and Mrs. Bourchier, known to the public as Miss Violet Vanbrugh. A little Terry boy, aged nine, is in it, and Mr. Buist does his very Buist, or best. The occasion of the revival was the resuscitation of A Pair of Spectacles, in which Mr. John Hare is better than ever; and, indeed, he has made it one of his very best eccentric comedy parts. Again Mr. Groves delights us with his hardwareish impersonation of "the man from Sheffield," a very happy thought on the part of the author-adapter, Mr. Grundy.
The occasion of the revival, too, was also noteworthy as being the début of another of the Terry family, the ingénue of the comedy being played by Miss Mabel Terry Lewis, who certainly inherits no small share of the Terry Talent. Mr. Gerald du Maurier, too, is excellent in a marvellously made-up small character part; and Bertie Hare—the heir of Hare—is very good as the youngster. Mr. Hare has fitted on this "pair of spectacles" just in time; not to have done so would have been shortsighted policy; and through them no doubt he sees his way to a long and highly satisfactory run. These two revivals Mr. Hare may consider not as "a pair of specs," but as "a couple of certainties."
Peter Prosit.
Why is the Modern Fictionist like a Dog-Fancier?—Because he is so fond of short tails.