Maxine Elliott (1873-1940)

"Joseph and His Brethren."
By Louis N. Parker.
His Majesty's Theatre. September 2, 1913.

Sir Herbert Tree, Messr's. Philip Merivale, H. A. Saintsbury, L. B. Hurley, Hubert Carter, Howard Rose, Bernard Storrs, Richard Neville, Stanley Howlett, J. W. Mollison, Cyril Sworder, George Relph, Alfred Willmore, Henry Vibart, Owen Roughwood, Bassett Roe, Roy Byford, Misses Cynthia Brooke, Frances Torrens, Georgina Milne, Rhoda Symons, Hilda Antony, Jessie Winter, Alice Phillips, Maxine Elliott, and others.

In his pageant plays, Mr. Louis N. Parker admits that the unities of time and locality go by the board, and are replaced by the unities of idea and of personality. With this knowledge in view, "Joseph and His Brethren" may be regarded as a history of the life of Joseph and his brothers, written and conceived upon the lines of the sacred original. The author of the play owes much of the material used to the Koran and the Talmud. In both, for instance, is Potiphar's wife named Zuleika. The misinterpretation of Pharaoh's dream by the priests and soothsayers is recorded in the Talmud, as is also Joseph's prophecy of the death of Pharaoh's firstborn and the birth of his new son. Mr. Parker also quotes Sir J. Gardiner Wilkinson as his authority for making Usertesen I. Joseph's Pharaoh.

"Joseph and His Brethren" was written and finished seven years ago. It was produced at New York in January of this year, and is presumed to be the first English Biblical play licensed by the Lord Chamberlain.

The play opens with a view of the tents of Shechem, and Joseph is sent to follow his brothers. At the wells of Dothan, Joseph is thrown into the well and is rescued, being then sold to Zuleika for twenty pieces of silver. The brothers return to their father's tent and Reuben displays the blood-stained coat of many colours to the stricken Jacob.

In the second act we find Joseph the favourite of Zuleika and her maidens. Potiphar is commanded by Pharaoh to exterminate bands of rebels, and leaves Joseph in charge of Zuleika and his household. Zuleika is in love with Joseph, but he is in love with Asenath, and in the garden of Potiphar the two overhear a conversation between Ranofer and Serseru in which the latter declares he will wed Asenath. But they also listen to a plot against Pharaoh! Later, Joseph is summoned to Zuleika's presence, where she tempts him, but he resists.

When Potiphar returns he exalts Joseph, but Zuleika denounces him and he is stripped, taken away in captivity, and cast into the dungeons with Imhotep and Serseru. Here Joseph interprets the dreams of his-fellow prisoners. Some time after Joseph is taken from prison to interpret Pharaoh's dream. This he does, and honours are bestowed upon him by Pharaoh.

Meanwhile. Jacob and Joseph's brethren are reduced to poverty. Jacob, now grown very old, still mourns the loss of his favourite son, Joseph. So the brethren repair to Joseph for seed for their land and food for their children. How Joseph tries them and tests their repentance is known by everyone who has read the narrative in the Bible, here closely followed in the play.

The final scene is devoted to the recognition of Joseph by his brethren and to the meeting be-tween the aged Jacob and his long-lost son.

In such a cast and with so much action it is difficult to praise the work of any one member of the company. Every detail is studied and perfect representations of every character are given. Sir Herbert Tree and his leading lady, Miss Maxine Elliott, fitted with parts that seemed to be written expressly for them, aroused considerable enthusiasm, and had to respond to many calls.

The whole play was acted with a dignity, a reverence, and a perfect understanding that made "Joseph and His Brethren" one of the most remarkable productions ever seen on the stage.

The setting, a feast of colour, has never been equalled for magnificence, even at His Majesty's-the house where one looks for splendour in theatrical effect.

Playgoer and Society Illustrated, Vol 9 No. 49, October 1913