THE MACMAHON DRAMATIC SEASON.

Bush Advocate, Volume XVIII, Issue 590, 12 December 1906, Page 5

THE MACMAHON DRAMATIC SEASON.

■ ♦ The Executioner's Daughter The wonderful hold which melodrama has upon the British public was again forcibly illustrated by the fine audience which assembled at the Drill Hall last night to witness the first production of one of the most stirring of modern plays, "The Executioners Daughter." In this case the attraction was a dual -one, for not only did the audience anticipate a thrilling drama, but they expected to see it presented on a scale of unusual anerit, as befitted the reputation of the Messrs MacMahoh and their carefully selected company. In. these esp?etalions they were not disappointed, for the play is full oi living interest, every phase of which was interpreted forcefully and vigorously by the players. The story takes its origin in France at the time when the guillotine was busy with its deadly .work. The executioner, who plies the •death-dealing machine, is unknown to the public, and even his own family <never suspect that their white-haired old father is identical with this loathsome public servant. But by and by his secret is discovered and his children leave him. In the meantime, his son in-law, the villain of the play, manages to get his wife — the executioner's daughter — convicted of a murder, which he himself has committed, and the eJimsx bt the play is reached when Monsieur Roche is called upon to execute his own childe. - This he refuses to' do, feeling convinced that there must be some terrible mistake, and the delay thus caused gives time for the reprieve to arrive, and then the hand of justice begins to slowly reach out in the direction of Felix Manus, the villain, who in due course meets his reward at the hands of the executioner. This brief outline of the p! ot may convey a somewhat gruesome idea of the play, but the drama is by no. means all sadness, it is not all a conflict between virtue on the one hand and villainy on the the other. It many parts it is lit up by light comedy, which serves to send a ripple of laughter through the audience and relieve the strain of the more serious situations. One of the central figures in the play is, of course, "Monsieur Roche," the executioner, who was impersonated by Mr E. B. Russell. Tho part demanded of the player a quiet dignity while entertaining his guests in his house, self-control during his de- \ nunciation, and an outburst of frenzied ! agony when he is called upon.to execute ' his own daughter. In all these varied moods Mr Russell was master of the oacasion, and gave a strong interpretation of the part,- his scene. at the guillotine * being especially powerful. Mr Boothman, as became this experienced actor, gave a studied rendering of the part of " Felix Marius," the villain. He was at once the bully and the coward, the schemer and the plotter, the man who made the bulle*ts and got other people , weaker than himself to fire them. One of these was " Vivian Ormonde," an English dude, whom Marius had rained at cards and then taught how to cheat. This character was entrusted to Mr M. Lynch, who amused everybody with his dudish ways, and occasionally won their sympathy, fjr though he was prepared to do almost auything for money, he now and then showed ihat he was not altogether dead to a sense of honour. Another of these victims who had become ensnared in the toils of the villain was "RLretch," a village blacksmith, and for his interpretation of this part Mr S. A. Fitzgerald is to be warmly complimented. As a character study it was excellent, bringing out as it did in marked relief the strength, as well as the weakness of the man. Mr Charles Blake had a comparatively small part in that of "Paul Rouvel," who acts as a kind of protector to the heroine, but what he had to do he did well, maintaining a stately dignity compatible with the character. Ttie humour of the play was entrusted to Mr E. Nable, who made the most of his opportunities as ' "Tom' Holmes," the valet to Marius. Tom had a knack of turning up at times most inconvenient for the villain, and his habit of asking at these awuward moments, "Am. l in the way" was simply irresistible. As "Annette," fche executioner's daughter, and the heroine of the play, Miss M. Grazville had a # difficult role to fill, requiring considerable histronic ablility to adequately sustain it. In this she was eminently successful, and gaye a fine interpretation of the good and virtuous woman. A character of the opposite nature was that of " Felice," the sister of Annette,— a cruel, cold, heartless woman, whose evil nature was .strongly portrayed by Miss Helen .Fergus, an actress of whose many successes on the stage this is not theleast A touch of pathos is introduced into the drama by the presence of little '' Chris•tina,'' the cripple child of the villain, who was represented by Miss L. Sinclair, and Miss May Renno contributed her- share of the comedy as "Sally King," the parlor maid. To these principal characters were added a host of others of minor importance, and the necessary stage accessories in the way of scenery and dresses were most complete, combining to make the drama one of the most attractive that Dannevirke has yet seen.