The remainder of the
play, though amusing, is unfortunately not up to the level of the first
act; else _Wheels within Wheels_ would be a little classic of
light comedy.
For a third example of interest carefully carried forward, I turn to a
recent Norwegian play, _The Idyll_, by Peter Egge. At the very rise of
the curtain, we find Inga Gar, wife of an author and journalist, Dr.
Gar, reading, with evident tokens of annoyance and distaste, a new book
of poems by one Rolfe Ringve. Before her marriage, Inga was an actress
of no great talent; Ringve made himself conspicuous by praising her far
beyond her merits; and when, at last, an engagement between them was
announced, people shrugged their shoulders and said: "They are going to
regularize the situation." As a matter of fact (of this we have early
assurance), though Ringve has been her ardent lover, Inga has neither
loved him nor been his mistress. Ringve being called abroad, she has,
during his absence, broken off her engagement to him, and has then,
about a year before the play opens, married Dr.
Pages:
231
232
233
234
235
236
237
238
239
240
241
242
243
244
245
246
247
248
249
250
251
252
253
254
255