Imperial Theatre (review 14 march 1906)
This review was published in The Bystander on 14 march 1906.
The play was Brigadier Gerard with Lewis Waller as the Brigadier.
Review
Imperial Theatre
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's new play is one of those which divides an audience against itself. Some people are edified and thrilled by stage tricks; others are merely amused. Now, a stage trick is justified if it gets the playwright out of a tight place by furthering the action of the play. In Brigadier Gerard the tricks are sprinkled about as a kind of seasoning. They are of the kind which clever children, brought up in the atmosphere of the theatre, introduce into the dramas they write and perform for the edification of their parents and friends. To quote an instance. The Brigadier, in his search for the documents around which the play is written, comes to Talleyrand's house. The statesman is uncertain of the soldier's identity, so instructs his secretary to drop his handkerchief if Captain Morrow, as he is announced, prove to be Captain Gerard. The dropping of that handkerchief causes merriment among the sophisticated.
