DICKENS ENTERTAINMENTS.

Press, Volume LXV, Issue 13467, 6 July 1909, Page 8

DICKENS ENTERTAINMENTS.

Mr. Charles Davenport, who last tnght at the Choral Hall commenced a series of Dickens entertainments, differs in his method of treatment from •any of the illustrators of th© great •novelist we have yet had. On the whole, he was very successful, though a judicious reduction of the number of items on tho programme would have been an improvement. Mr Davenport is no mere reciter of the works of Dickens; he is not only a loving student but an abl© delineator of the varied phases of character which the genius of tlio great novelist has so powerfully pourtrayed in his works. The most notable feature of the whole entertainment was the pathetic playlet—for such it really was—which Mr Davenport has evolved from the scenes in "David Copperfield," in which Little Em'ly plays the principal part. Mr Davenport in this has brought into a focus, as it were, tho main features of this touching story—a story in simple pathos worthy to rank with that of Little Nell or "Th© Tale of Two Cities" —and by his delineation of it last night he made the characters live. The salient points of the loving faith of Dan'l Peggotty his great love for Em'ly, th© rough but hearty humour of the man, and the despair of Ham at his Joss, were all in turn powerfully depicted by Mr Davenport. So much so, that, as has been said, tlio various characters took shape and stood out so Btrongly that instead of listening to a •recital one saw the evolution of tho tragedy as an unseen participant. Every point was made with skill, and without th© least trace of exaggeration. In fact, -Mr Davenport's strong point is the intensity which he is able to concentrate in pourtraying pathos. It was a masterly delineation throughout, and one which could not but be of the greatest possible interest to admirers of Dickons. In lighter vein Mr Davenport was also successful, though not to such an extent as in the other portions of tho programme. The cpisodo of tho Rochester military review, David Copporfiold's experience with the waiter, and Mr Winklo's performances on skatos were capitally told. The pictures illustrating the various items were admirable, and are shown in a novel and effective form in a frame, conveying th© idea of a real picture. To-night Mr Davenport will give the second of his entertainments, for which a very attractive programme has been arranged.