THIS WEEK'S THEATRES .sx His Majesty's .sx " THE GOOD COMPANIONS .sx " Adapted by J. B. PRIESTLEY and EDWARD KNOBLOCK from J.B. PRIESTLEY'S NOVEL .sx Music by RICHARD ADDINSELL .sx Lyrics by HARRY GRAHAM and FRANK EYTON .sx Dances arranged by EDWARD DOLLY .sx Produced by JULIAN WYLIE .sx This sixteen-scene panorama , with a heart as large as a football and plenty of lusty scrimmaging around and above it , begins with its only subtlety-the beautiful acting of Mr. Frank Pettingell as Sam Oglethorpe .sx If you were wondering how any of Mr. Priestley's admirable description of Bruddersford could be caught up and translated into acting , you can have your satisfaction here .sx Mr. Pettingell makes only two brief appearances-at the start and the finish-but one remembers his performance after the tumult and the shouting dies .sx Sam , that sweet slice of Yorkshire pudding , explaining that he never put ideas into anybody's head , is West Riding in tone , aspect , everything .sx Mr. Edward Chapman , an actor of rare versatility ( one remembers him playing a dozen parts , all richly , in a Gracie Fields revue ) , does very nicely as Jess Oakroyd , but Oakroyd is the Jack Spratt of the affair ; he has all the fat and Mr. Pettingell has two scraps of lean .sx After we have left Bruddersford , picked up Miss Trant plus Baby Austin , rescued Inigo Jollifant from the kind of school in which Mr. Will Hay might take the Sixth , and set out upon the open road , where it never rains and there is always Good Fun , we know that we have said au revoir to acting .sx It is masquerade henceforward .sx Everything is to be louder and lustier than life .sx Mr. Julian Wylie gives rapid fire to the kind of scenic projectile once hurled from the batteries of Mr. Arthur Collins .sx New Majesty's is but old Drury Lane writ liveller .sx There is no room to develop character .sx The sixteen scenes are hustled along with a mixed company of shadows and cartoons .sx Inigo and Miss Trant are on the shadowy side , and even such brilliant players as Mr. John Gielgud and Miss Edith Sharpe cannot make flesh and blood realities out of glimpses amid the general clatter .sx But it is the poorest criticism which blames an artist because he fails in that wherein he never attempted to succeed .sx One takes it that the purpose here is simply to provide what is called in family circles " a long , happy evening .sx " In that the piece is totally successful .sx The public is given what it expects .sx No pierrot troupe would recognise itself in the strange collection of human oddments here shown .sx They are scarce out of the Crummles stage , and I imagine that Mr. Morton Mitchain was last seen in his favourite tavern about the golden jubilee of Queen Victoria .sx It is quite impossible that these freaks should have ever stormed a barn with triumph ; much less could they have reduced the owners of kinemas to rage , conspiracy , and violence .sx But who cares ?sx On with the dance , but on with it , surely , to a more infectious tune than Mr. Addinsell has contrived .sx Had Jollifant done no better than this ?sx And I was not quite sure that Miss Adele Dixon's Susie , vivid and vivacious as she was , would really have danced in triumph down Shaftesbury-avenue .sx But it is not a case for realistic questioning .sx On it goes .sx It is Mr. Jingle's world and only Mr. Jingle's English can describe it .sx " Ribsden Market .sx Crowds .sx Showmen .sx Buskers .sx Queer company .sx Gatford Hippodrome .sx Fine view of back-stage .sx Rough lot in front .sx Booing .sx Carrots .sx Cabbages .sx General blaze-up .sx House on fire .sx Fisticuffs .sx Woman fainted .sx Fat man slogged on the jaw .sx Bodies cleared away .sx Solicitor fetched .sx No good .sx No case .sx Yes , there is .sx Yorkshire to the rescue .sx Good old Oakroyd .sx Got that thinking-cap .sx Stout fellow .sx Everybody happy .sx Wait a minute .sx Touch of pathos .sx Must have pathos .sx Lost his wife .sx Heart-strings vibrate .sx But he's got a daughter .sx Out in Canada .sx No money ?sx Postman's knock .sx Cheque from good angel .sx Pack his bag .sx Liner awaiting .sx Capital .sx " And capital the audience found it .sx There is a huge company , most of whom spend the evening in good busker fashion , doubling and trebling parts and jumping from one wig into the next .sx Out of this jumbled versatility I remember most clearly Mr. Edwin Ellis as Jimmy Nunn , the comedian , Mr. Alexander Field as Joby Jackson and a Jewish gentleman , Mr. William Heilbronn in great voice , and Miss Ellen Pollock as barmaid and soubrette .sx Mr. Wylie's production is fast and furious , and Mr. Laurence Irving , as decorator , has been happily engaged with country inns and marts and all such .sx Good company .sx IVOR BROWN .sx Ambassadors .sx " THE HAIRY APE .sx " By EUGENE O'NEILL .sx Whatever you may think of this play ( and both opinions are tenable ) , there is no doubt that it gives Mr. Paul Robeson opportunities , which he takes superbly .sx As Yank , the eponymous hero , his is the dominating voice in the profane chorus of stokers that starts the action .sx The splendour of his glistening torso supports his voice and justifies the crowing egotism that cows his messmates .sx Here Mr. Sydney Morgan has an Irish solo , Mr. Lawrence Hanray a Cockney one , which each renders admirably ; but one's first and one's abiding impressions are of the power with which this negro actor seizes upon all that is explicit in the text , and redeems its progressive hesitations .sx The statement of Hank's case is firm enough , but its implications leave much to the imagination ; and it is due to Mr. Robeson that the imagination so readily accepts the legacy .sx As the dramatist's grip on one's sympathy relaxes , that of the actor insensibly tightens .sx Hank is in his element below decks , vaunting his physical potency in argument with his messmates or profane abuse of higher authority .sx It is his fate to cut adrift and be crushed in the upper world by forces he can neither comprehend nor counter ; it is ours to be bewildered by the significance of his tragedy and by the reluctance of the symbolism to clarify it .sx The production as a whole , however , is an extremely good one , and may be warmly recommended , both to those who enjoy unusual dramatic experiences and to lovers of good acting .sx For while the dramatist seems to assault more philosophical objectives than he succeeds in consolidating , Mr. Robeson's performance blends art , personality , and achievement beautifully .sx H.H. .sx Prince of Wales .sx " THE UNFORESEEN .sx " By HENRY REX .sx This is a sad wives' tale .sx The elder Earl of Chasemore , hunting up to his name , neglected his Countess , who had no taste for hoot and saddle .sx She consoled herself with a Russian Prince and presented the Earl with a demi-Russian son , which gift the Earl accepted for respectability's sake .sx The next Earl also neglected his wife , being a moody and shell-shocked man .sx The demi-Russian brother turned out dissolute , and , since the elder Earl had been too stupid to make a clear will and testament , the dissolute son was able to snatch half the young Earl's fortune .sx This apparently meant that he would have to cancel the order for a new Rolls and go and live in a cottage .sx He became gloomier still ; he swigged whisky and snapped at his Countess , his lounge-hall manner being extremely unbaronial .sx She had never really loved him and now loved him less than ever .sx Her real soul-mate loomed nobly about the lounge-hall , playing the game and being quietly helpful to the now tippling , testy , and impoverished Earl ; altogether he was a hundred-per-cent .sx pukah sahib , just the man for the Countess .sx Earl , realising this , and recently made gloomier still by the death of his infant at extremely short notice , went into the next room and did the far , far better thing with a revolver , thus leaving life and happiness to Countess and friend .sx The company devoted themselves heroically to presenting this sad saga .sx Mr. Edgar Norfolk proceeded from alcohol to altruism with conviction , Miss Barbara Hoffe gave a beautiful performance as the suffering Countess , while Miss Clare Harris and Mr. Roland Ward endeavoured to brighten one of the stately and sombre homes of England .sx The players had my sympathy .sx They must have felt as if they were trying to push a steam-roller up hill .sx IVOR BRWON .sx Royalty .sx " LOVERS' MEETING .sx " This women's war-play , of anonymous authorship , will surely appeal to more people than saw it at the matinee performance .sx It is a tale of ambulance drivers , fretting against the discipline which orders the living , suffering person to be a cog in the machine :sx there are two women with attachments to one man , whom we see only at his journey's end .sx That romance is over and the cogs must carry on .sx It is a play of atmosphere as well as of personal conflict and tragic event ; there are humours , extremely broad in some places , and in others rather long .sx But the characters are clearly-drawn types :sx there are the girl from the North , the Cockney Ma , and the nurse who is forever talking self-sacrifice .sx Miss Mary Merrall and Miss Renee Gadd gave a fine tension to the eventful side of the play , while Miss Kathleen Harrison and Miss Esme Beringer are lavishing a generous force on the comedy of feminine khaki .sx Mr. Evelyn Roberts represents the R.A.M.C. , and commands a stormy situation with quiet resource .sx IVOR BROWN .sx Wyndham's .sx " THE OLD MAN .sx " By EDGAR WALLACE .sx In this tragi-comedy Mr. Wallace has drawn some vigorous characters :sx a noble lord and his faithless lady ; two crooks with hearts of lead and gold respectively ; an American sleuth in mufti ; some complementary creatures , and-Mrs .sx Harris .sx It should be said at once that Mrs. Harris is played by Miss Maisie Gay , otherwise the full-throated laughter that accompanies the unfolding of the tragedy might seem heartless .sx The fire that consumes his lordship's mansion as the curtain rises throws all these characters together at the local hotel , where Mrs. Harris is dame-of-all-work , and her ladyship and the leaden crook fail to conceal the fact that they were rescued in the nick of time from the same blazing bedroom .sx Having looked , as a policeman's daughter , on the deadlier sins , Mrs. Harris's motto is , You must know all to forgive all .sx And her work is hindered accordingly .sx Whether eaves-dropping as a disastrous " Nippy , " or drinking glasses ( of peace and port ) with his lordship at curtain-fall , Miss Gay is triumphantly funny .sx The play , a good specimen of Mr. Wallace's craft , abounds in amusing lines and is admirably played by Miss Gay ; Mr. Alfred Drayton , the golden-hearted ; Mr. Jack Melford , the leaden-hearted ; Mr. Cecil Humphreys , his lordship ; Miss Frances Doble , her ladyship ; Mr. Harold Warrender , young chivalry , and Mr. Finlay Currie , America in mufti .sx H.H. .sx Fortune .sx " THE DUKE OF KILLIECRANKIE .sx " By ROBERT MARSHALL .sx Until the Duke and his cat's-paw confederate donned kilts in the third act and the Highlands , I was a little conscious that this familiar farce cried out for a period dressing .sx True , the library wallpaper was suitably antique , and the preliminary flutters of Miss Helen Ferrer's fan had an immemorial rhythm .sx But the curtailed robes of the ladies , whose kidnapping had such happy , if predictable , consequences , seemed to rub in the fact that our fathers were content with rather more leisurely fun than convulses us to-day .sx Not that it is poor fun , for all its deliberation .sx It relies , as farce has ever done , more on the slashing tu quoque than the pricking epigram , and on the just fears inspired in the stronger sex by the weaker .sx Mr. Jack Hobbs and Mr. Huntley Wright wear their rue with a difference , but the laughter they provoke is the same ; and Miss Ferrers and Miss Joan Mande do nothing to discourage , but everything to abet them .sx H.H. .sx Chelsea Palace .sx " CORIOLANUS .sx " The least ponderable of Mr. William Poel's productions has usually some ray of genius or enlightening artifice that enables the exigencies of the occasion to be given all the indulgence they beg .sx And in this difficult exercise there were moments when all that was good in the play and the gilding laid upon it by Mr. Poel were clearly revealed .sx Those moments ( for me ) came late , and were due very largely to the impetuosity of Miss Sara Allgood's daemon .sx As Volumnia , she was content to hum her recitative , but soon forgot her fetters and burst out into acting of a gloriously refreshing robustness .sx