PRINCESS THEATRE.

THE MAGGIE MOOEE SEASOX.

On Sptuidiy night at the Princess Theatre tho Arderscu Dramatic Coinpr.ny p: educed a new play, entitled " The Widow From Japan. ' II kept a large audience vasty amused throughout tho whole of its three acts, and probably that is its best recommendation. The possibilities suggested by the title are net belied in tho outcome. As will ba readily guessed, " Tho Widow From Japan " is iv comej'y of broad, even •farcical, descriptio i. To condense its circle of fkmsily connectsd incident ictc .1 serious explanation is unchantab'.e, but, b;iefly, tlis underlying e'oia- is this, that Mi Bartley Swift, livir.g at the opcniv.g of the pipy most happily with his wife Blanche, had a year or two previou3'y b?«n in Japan, where "he had fallen violently m love with an aciress, bj" nains Maud Mulier, but in a fit of jealousy he 'had, as he- thought, taken rthe initiative ar.d run away and jilted her. This lady veiy promptly theieupon married a gentleman who was, i* prcved, none other than the fathei of Mrs Rartley Swift to be. The Japanese lady next becomes a. widow, and, being relate :l in the nbove described way to the young -maoric-cl coup.c, sends word to England that sue intends visiting them. Needless to say Bartley Swif* has no susnicio 1 that he has seen the lady bjfore, b>i; veiy wild conjectures a:e formed in the household ns to what may be expected to arrive, for Bl&nche Swift, it must bs reniembered, hr.d never £e;n her father's secor.d wife, and the marriage had baen lcoked on as something extracrclinary. At tbe same tinio that Bartiey Swift's Japanese step-mother-in-i.tw is espec-ted, a new govirness, recommended by him for his wife's young si^tev, is also expected. The.go\err.es3 docs not turn up, bui the Japanese widow does, and briefly she is mistaken for the governess, keeps ii? the •cieluslor, recognises in Bartley Swift her former admirer, tills his wife with mspicion, f!irt3 with his chum, and general "y makej the iiov.-chold » soene of the ulmoit i;oss:b!c co l '. : .u?ion end dioturbince. aad drives the disiractad Bartley Swift to the verge of suicide, 111 a wrecked rnansio 1 where everybody is prepariug to leave him. The widow, however, has had 120 intention of being a destrojvr of family felicity, and a few explanations bnng everything right m the end. Add 10 this framework the !o\c affairs of a foolish maiden lady, likewise those of au over youthful counle, the extravagances of a. iovc-snntten French adorer of the widow's, and it will be seen that there should bo ample room for comic situations in ' The Widow From Japai'. ' Miss Maggi" Moore as the widow was the life and soul of the comedy, and took tho pail with a woi derfut vivacity, coturjlncss, and effectiveness. The widow's repartee aud ticatment of her admirers piovokcd unbounded amusement, a'ld Miss Maggie Mcore also found opi.ortnmty to give her audience snatches c" her chs"u: 115 c »j"!?iii!?, being twice recalled f 0 • her coon fo-ig. in d with tho most excellent effect aud tasts .-.he recited Bracken's " NoUnderstood, making the simple lines appeal n.ie!y to her hearers. Mr S. A. Fitzgerald was well cast as the c\cr-mnch worried Bartley Swift, snd Mr Milton Moss as a drawling, eycgiassed creature named Pcrcival Monkhou.se oeated amus?uicnt. Mr Vincent Scully iook the part of the admirer who ultimately captures the widow, and v.-itli effect, and Mr AY. F. Welch toak a sirall i>-Jit ?ati c factori!y. Hue 1 laughter had its oiigin in the acting 01 Mr .' . F. Forde os the extravagant Frenchman so"' dear to comedy, and Miss Madge Herrlck also achieved success in another comic part, that o' the maiden ar.ut. Miss Oagood Mcore tool-: the pait of the young wife with simple effective-r-ss. and Miss Ethel Bashfoid wa.3 equal to the demands of the role of the widow's pupi . Last, but not least, Mr J. P. West's pcrsoralion of an o'd butler was a character stuoy of much merit quite up to the staudaid of his prcvlnns performincea. The stng.ng of the comedy is adeouate