“Yrs truly,
——.”
To whom do you think that letter is addressed? You would suppose to some public personage with a reputation for cordial sympathy with the young and earnest, such as the CHIEF SCOUT, for instance. But no, the “Dear Sir” is in reality a limited liability company, one of whose circulars, I suppose, wandered to the Gold Coast.
* * * * *
THE LAW COURTS THEATRE.
“ROMNEY’S RUM ’UN.”
London was probably never richer in comic actors than at the present moment, for not only is W.H. BERRY at the Adelphi, LESLIE HENSON at the Gaiety, ARTHUR ROBERTS at the Oxford singing his old songs, and ROBERT HALE and GEORGE ROBEY twice daily elsewhere, but in the Law Courts Playhouse CHARLES DARLING has been lately at his very best. Dropping in there last week, during the performance of a new farce, entitled Romney’s Rum ’Un, I was again fascinated by the inexhaustible wit and allusive badinage of this great little comedian, beside whose ready gagging GEORGE GRAVES himself is inarticulate. Had not GEORGE ROBEY invented for application to himself the descriptive phrase, “The Prime Minister of Mirth,” it should be at once affixed to the Law Courts’ fun-maker; but, since it is too late to use that, let us think of him as “The Chancellor of the Exchequer of Mirth.”
CHARLES DARLING’S success is the more remarkable because he keeps so still. He sits in his chair as steadily as another of his outdistanced rivals, SAM MAYO ("The Immobile Comedian,” as he is called), remains standing. He has few gestures; he rarely, if ever, sings, and I have never seen him dance; and yet the way in which he “gets over” is astonishing. “Laughter holding both his sides” is the most constant attendant of this theatre.
What is the secret? Well, first and foremost it is of course to be sought in the genius of the actor himself; but contributory causes are the acceptivity of the audience, which is more noticeable in the Law Courts than in any other London theatre, and the willingness of his fellow-performers to “feed” him, as stage-folk have it; that is to say, provide him with materials upon which (again resorting to stage language) he may “crack his wheezes.” The other day, for example, that excellent comedian, JOHN SIMON, was his principal ally in this way, and nothing could have been better than the sympathy between the two funny men. To CHARLES DARLING naturally fell the fat of the dialogue, but no one enjoyed the treat more than JOHN SIMON, in whose dictionary the word jealousy does not exist. LESLIE SCOTT also did his best to “feed” his principal, and the results were a scream.