Mr. Chambers’s earlier work lay more in the direction of strong dramas such as “Captain Swift,” “The Idler,” and “John a’ Dreams,” but the comedy of these plays, especially the last, was of a character to foreshadow to some extent the praiseworthy achievement represented by “The Tyranny of Tears.”
ALICE BROWN.
THE TYRANNY OF TEARS
ACT I
Scene.—Mr. Clement Parbury’s study at his house in the neighbourhood of Hampstead Heath. The main entrance leading from the hall is C. A door, R., leads to the dining-room. A glass door, R.C., opens into a garden. The fireplace is C. The room is comfortably and not severely furnished. The furniture is made up of “odds and ends” selected with taste. The couch down L. is a deep and cosy one; the desk or writing-table about R.C. is a large and serviceable one. There is a smaller desk higher up, and near it on wall, R., a telephone apparatus. The apartment altogether represents the workshop of a literary man of careless good taste. There is a touch, too, of femininity in its decorations, and a portrait of Mrs. Parbury is the only picture on the walls, which otherwise are mostly hidden by bookcases.
[For a few moments before and when the curtain rises the noise of street singers is heard. Miss Woodward and Evans are discovered. Miss Woodward is dressed with severe simplicity in a costume of dark colour, with linen collar and cuffs; her dark hair is drawn back from her forehead. Her costume, being well cut, does not conceal the graceful outline of her figure. She is a handsome, innocent, yet determined-looking girl of twenty. She is at the window looking out.
Evans.
[Raising his voice above the outside singers.] They wouldn’t listen to me, Miss Woodward! [Suddenly the music stops. A pause.] Ah, they’ve listened to Mr. Parbury! [Miss Woodward goes to desk, R., sits.] Mr. Parbury’s a very masterful man—outside his house—isn’t he, Miss? [Miss Woodward favours Evans with a cold stare, then resumes work at desk.] [Aside.] What an iceberg that young woman is! [Telephone bell rings.]