AUCKLAND DRAMATIC SOCIETY

Auckland Star, Volume XXXVI, Issue 254, 24 October 1905, Page 2

AUCKLAND DRAMATIC SOCIETY

V *THE SCHOOLMISTRESS."

Aft is "long, and rehearsals are short, and an amateur is an .amateur, The statement of the fact is nonejthe less necessary because it is obvious; for there is no keener critic sub rosa than a sister or a cousin or an aunt, And if the amateur is Hot entitled (anil really be'is not) to too much honey in the shape of praise comparative,' he is at least entitled to the eleihentary justice of not being judged as something, which he does not pretend to be. Amateurs are the same ' everywhere; they play types.rather than men, they pile oh thf> colours, .and they find ani eternal difficulty in realising the due proportions of the picture as a whole. But any critic who is worth his salt realises the immense difficulties that beset a band of untrained enthusiasts, even in the very preliminaries of stagecraft—pitch of voice, stage-walk, makeup, and the like; and he can judge fairly only by a standard based on average amateur production, and not on anything more, ambitious. The present company made what, with ' proper allowances, may be - considered a very creditable attempt to interpret a difficult piece. "The Schoolmistress" is less subtle than Mr : Pineiro's later plays,, but i_ is subtle enough to bristle with points "which would ask for very heavy Work even from fully trained actors. The■subcurrent of satire beneath what, is only in the . most formal and superficial sense a mere farce makes' demands that no amateurs could fully satisfy. Oh the whole, thereifore, the society only did what they were obliged to do in treating it, with certain reservations, as a comedy of incident. On those lines r some warm praise may be accorded to the result of obviously bard and honest work! There is ho need to tell at length how the love affairs •of Mis_ Dyott, principal of Voluinnia College, are 'matched as well as married by the relations between Mr Reginald Paulover and the. schoolgirl Dinah-, how all the people who had better not have done so come together at a clandestine supper party at the whicb is interrupted by a fire, and complications ensue which are only resolved;in the last act. . The.rest must be hinted at in dealing with the characters. The Hon. Vere Queckett is the bankrupt-(and secret) husband of "Miss Dyott," who, through the mischievous trickery of: Peggy Hesslerigge, an articled pupii, has to play the part of uncle to four girls during -tbe. party, and to -meet sundry .most inconvenient characters,; including tbe excitable Admiral Rankling. Mr Herbert's acting of the part of Queckett was' decidedly good, although the affectation of the character was sometimes on the side of being overdrawn. It was certainly, however, very decidedly above the average. As . Miss Dyott, Miss Pauline Dempsey, for her unconsciousness arid her perception of the quaint humour, in the double personality of the prixo schoolmistress and of the comic opera artist, who soba for her Vete when she has done her giddy turn on the stage was the success of the evening. Miss I Dempsey .has method, self-possession ] 'and naturalness. Miss Winifred Smith was a really most engaging Peggy , Hesslerigge. If her Voice were sometimes a little more subdued she would be still better. Mr Eag.eton's Admiral was extremely clever on its- own- lines —being of those of the irascible father of ordinary farce, without any suspicion of his calling outside of his name. Mr ' Eag'leton,'s gesture, facial expressionj and vbcal realisation of his conception of the part were worthy of- the warmest commendation. Mr J. W. Saunders made a clever study of Paulover, the secret husband of Dinah, whose eccentric expression of bis jealousies was quite diverting. Misses Victoria and Blanche Yon Meyern and May Templeton were very good as the remaining girls (all of whom acted very well together). Mr Gresbam did very well, and had a flow of broken English as Herr Otto Bernstein. Mr G. E. Bagnall was a straight-omare/ Lieutenant Mallory, Mr Hector McQuarrie, a capable middy, and Mr A. Sanders, an energetic, if overdone, boy in buttons. Other characters were creditably played by Misses Hettie and Ella Basten and Mr A. Featherstone. The piece was most admirably staged and managed (therein being a tribute to the good work of Mr Lohrmau and of Mr Thomas Humphries respectively and an excellent amateur orchestra under Mr Samuel Jackson.might have done itself the compliment of playing more difficult music. . Altogether the production showed well enough to encourage hopes of a definite success