MAGGIE MOORE-H.R. ROBERTS COMPANY.

Auckland Star, Volume XXX, Issue 78, 4 April 1899, Page 5

MAGGIE MOORE-H.R. ROBERTS COMPANY.

TRILBY-BURLESQUE AT THE

OPERA HOUSE

There was a large holiday audience at the Opera House last evening to witness the first performance by the Maggie Moore—Roberts Dramatic Company of a burlesque on Dv Maurier's Trilby, or, to be more correct, a burlesque founded partly on the late artist author's work; and partly on the stage adaptation of the book. Any sensible person does not look to see the original plot reproduced in detail in work of this class, and in this case the .sensible person is not doomed to disappointment, Mr Edmund Finn, who wrote the piece for the principals now at the Opera House, will be found to have metamorphosed Trilby into a young lady with a very pronounced Irish accent, and possessed of a strong predilection for displaying her foot on every conceivable occasion. That arch fiend Svengali is a person possessed of the most extraordinary and supernatural powers of mesmerism, the exercise of which he by no means confines to 'my Gecko' and Trilby alone, but employs to the discomfort of Taffy, Sandy, and Little Billee as well. This latter trio have some resemblance to the three we were familiar with aforetime, and Zou Zou Madame" Vinard, and the Rev. Mr Bagot and Mrs Bagot are not. forgotten. In parts the burlesque is really excruciatingly funny, and were it made to run a little closer, would keep the audience ceaselessly merry. As it is, it. provides a good two and a-half hours' amusement, which should appeal alike to those who do not as well as those who do know the story 'of Trilby—either the novelist's or dramatist's version. On Miss Maggie Moore and Mr H. R. Roberts as Trilby and Svengali respectively falls the great share of the work. Miss Moore sings several songs during the piece, and her acting is full of life. Mr Roberts is really immense as Svengali, and round him revolves the humour of the piece. While he is on the stage, and he is rarely off it, one may depend on having a good laugh. Mr Alec Cochrane is a passably satisfactory Taffy, and the same may be said of Mr F. Esmelton's Sandy. Little Billie is well taken by Miss Osgood Moore, who in the Variety scene in the studio, to which Miss Moore, Messrs Roberts and C. Lyndon contribute, gives a very clever and graceful dance. A feature of the play is the performance of Little Gladys Bashfprd, whose singing of 'Sons of the Sea' was loudly redemanded. The play is well mounted, the musical arrangement is excellent, and 'Trilby' should certainly have a successful run at the Opera House.