"HUMAN NATURE."

Press, Volume LXIII, Issue 12479, 16 April 1906, Page 8

"HUMAN NATURE."

MACMAHON'S DRAMATIC COMPANY.

The well-known dramatic combination piloted by tho Messrs Macmahon, opened « return ecason in Christchurch on Saturday night, by staging a sensational drama, onfitlocl "Unman Nature," in the Theatre. Royal. The company had tho benefit and encouragement of a good hou<e, so that their tea-son may bo ?aid to have started under favourable auspices. The piny is one for which G. R. Sims and Henry Pettitt are responsible, and that in iiself is sufficient guarantee for an abundance of incident and excitement of tho variety invariably associated with tho better class of melodrama. In plays of this type all tilings are. possible: there, is a curious mixture of pathos and bathos, humour and farce, dullness and s-ensation: vice nnd virtue, and this pot pourri of roaland extravagance and improbability is submitted for the delectation of tho maafs as a presentation, of human, nature. The piny itself suggests that when the authors wore hunting for a title their imagination, having been overtaxed in the construction of tho various situations, failed them, and they decided, without rhyme or reason, to cnll their dramatic creation "Human Nature.'' And ac few people have ever Hren able to agree, after the mo«=t profound study of hmran nature in all its manifold forms, doubtless it does not matter very much whether the authors of tho piece in question have or have not any justification for claiming that it tpaches Uβ any moro about human nature than we knew before. The play centres round the fortunes of Captain Temple, of His Majesty's service- (Mr Ch.ns. Blake), and introduce*; a dititrefß<hl heroine in the person of his wife (Mi.*s Maie Nelson), who nro vie victims of no loss than five evilly-diepceed poisons, arranged as far as we can judge, in the following order of demerit:—Matthew Hawker, a solicitor (Mr J. Lambert), Paul Be Vignc, of tho Egyptian Service (Mr Wilton Power), Cora Grey, Teniplo'e oast-off mistress (Miss May Granville), Joe Lambkin, a farmer (Mr Hurry Douglas), and Mrs Lambkin (Mrs Barry Lnm-). IV Vigno is enamoured of Mrs Temple, Hawker has a reversionary interest in the family estate, provided an inconvenient boy can be dispcised of, and Cora Grey lives chiefly to regain the affections of her quondam paramour, whofe honour as a hero seems to liave sustained fomo preliminary tarnish that ho never seems to try to explain away. But it can bo seen at a glance, and without reference to Temple's financial entanglements with Do VLgno, that there is quite sufficient trouble in store for the loving liuisband and wife. The efforts of Hawker to get the money, and of Cora Grey to re-awaken a passion that is ccki and dead, produce many complications, with the result that there is much crime and bloodshed before tho happy reunion in. Act V. takes place. Tho action of tho play changes from a happy home in England to law offices in London, to a kind of baby farm in tho provinces, to tho Soudan and to Khartoum where there is a fierce and smoky engagement with Mahdists, and back flgain to England. As stated, there is plenty of variety and excitement for thaw who like it, and judging by the whole-solucd appreciation of .the audience on Saturday night, tho play hits the populaf taste". As regards the work done by the Company, there is not much to discriminate between the principals. Mi'S Nelson sustained a somewhat exacting role with credit, and acted with a good deal of naturalness and restraint, and avoided the common error of over-doing the highly emotional scenes. Messrs Blake and Power also put in some good work, and they managed ono of the most important scenes, where De Vigno meets his deserts, very effectively. Mr Lambert also deserves a word of praise for the cold end calculating villainy required of the part of Matthew Hawker. The mounting of the piny left, a little to be desired, but ias an off-«?t against any shortcomings ijni this respect, a couple of fine tableaux representing the last stand of the Mahdistfi. were put on. ' "Human Nature" will be repeated this evening, and to-morrow evening will bo followed by the Adelphi play. "The Rogue's Daughter." A special box office will bo own during the whole of to-day at the Theatre Royal.