ENTERTAINMENTS.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 491, 26 April 1909, Page 8

ENTERTAINMENTS.

[ . "THE BROKEN HOME." A melodrama in four acts. Principal characters ; Harry Denton (a true-hearted man) , Mr. Robert Inman. Walter Denton (his cousin) Mr,. Kenneth Hunter. Jack Adkins (a ne'or-do-well)...Mr. J. P. O'Neill Arthur Millwood (a bad lot) - - Mr. Stanley Robinson. Daniel Wilton (a man of many parts) Mr. Thomas Curran. Jane Maria Wilton ("Lady Jane") - — . Miss Ethel Buckley. Mother Flanagan (child stealer) ■ • , Miss Pattie Gourlay. "Tho Broken Homo," as played for the first'time in Wellington by tho members of ; the Edwin Goach Dramatic Company ,at the Theatre Royal ou Saturday evening,, is orthodox melodrama. It opens with a conference of Denton, . principal villain, Arthur Millwood, described .as a "bad lot,";and Jack Adkins, a ne'er-do-well-having for its object tho destruction ,of tho psaco and happiness of tho homo of Harry Denton, cousin of tho principal villain, and the hero of tho pioce. Millwood is to imper-' sonato . tlw first'husband of' Harry Denton's wife, and iuduco her. to leave home that sho may ultimately : fall into the hands:of Walter Denton. The plot.thickens successfully; Mrs. Denton leaves her home, her husband, and baby, and leads a poverty-stricken life in London for some years. - v Sho leaves; a note • of, farewell to her husband, yaijd in. a postcript, which is torn off by tho villain, ;tells him that her child is left to his keeping. Tho child is smuggled away,' and .under the disreputable guardianship of Mother, Flanagan, aliabituo' of slum-London, becomes a street' beggar. Harry Denton returns to his home to find his, wife and child gone, and his happiness wrecked. Tho pseudo former husband then appears, and in a moment of fury Harry Denton;strangles him, leaves him for dead, and flees to London, where ho leads a solute lifo, drowning his past in drink. Walter Denton, discovering Millwood lying' insensible hut still 'alivo, dispatches his accomplice with a life-preserver, but is detected in tho act by . Adkins, his other accomplice, who first finds his discovery to be a profitable one; but/later is poisoned by the villain, whoso rascally career.. is writ largo throughout,the piece. Adkins, before dying, confesses his crime, and tho police,after the villain has accomplished tho complete misery of the Denton household,-and almost enticed hip unhappy cousin into a duel with a French criminal, who is disguised as a nobleman, is arrested, tho disintegrated hom6 is reunited and live happy-ever after. The gloom of the piece is enlightened by the eccentricities of Daniel Wilton, tho husband of $ masterful little lady with plenty of money, but rather unpolished in speech and deportment. •> ;As to the performance itself; 'Mr. Kenneth Hunter made; an admirable, villhin, and sustained tho part of, a cool 'and resolute scoundrel right to jthe :.end... Mr. Robert Inman, as Harry Denton, was at times rather' colourless in tho earlier stages of tho piece, being somewhat at, a_;disadvantage, in his association with. Miss' -Maud Appleton, whose interpretation of her role asOMis. Denton gavo tho impression, of being rather forced and therefore inartistic. Lato in the progress of the play, Mr. Inman,' as, tho dissolute club man, and also in disguise as an ;aged- habitue of sliimLbridon, was much better, rising occasion-; ally to a creditablo standard in dramatic art; as instanced in the scene in' the cardroom,) where lie is attacked by.;the horrors of delirium trepiens. Mr. 1 Stanley Robinson, as Arthur Millwood, was disposed of early-in the evening. He gave, a faithful interpretation of' t-liS role or accomplice to the, principal villain. Mr. Thomas Curran, who, as Daniel Wilton, supplied ; the burlesque of the play, was too much of a,vapid, "chappio" in the earlier/stages to' justify ■his accomplishment's later on: ' His • association- with a criminal ..detcctivo, in .the work of unravelling the. .scheme : 'of villainy was incongruous, a ' serious reflection on , the perspecuity of the detective, and ail unpardonablo action on tho part of the , playwright. His acting," though somewhat over-' done, was successful in that'it amused. Mr. J. P. O'Neil, as Jack Adkins, the no'er-do-well, rather paraded, his-goodness of heart. As •an ' accomplice in i crime, : his virtues should havo revealed themselves in furtive peeps. .-.That may, of course, liayo been -the fault of tho playwright, who too often neglects tho most elementary principles of human psychology. Mr. Harry. Norman, as Count Boulais, alias Do _ Grison, a precious scamp, interpreted his minor part very well. Miss Ethel Buckloy, as Jano Maria Wilton ("Lady Jano"), was very good, her imper-sonation-of the character of a wealthy-but uncultured society lady being ono of -the ' bright, spots in the-play. For the rest, it may W- said that Mr. Albert Lucas, in the role of a detective, Mr. W. Edmonds, as a railway porter, and Miss Madgo Rogers, as Billy the Waif, performed their parts creditably. Miss Pattio Gourlay, as Mother Flanagan'j, failed to convey,, the idea of criminal cunning which is" essentiar to .her, role.! ..The best piece of scenery,-waij ,' undoubtedly . that depicting a Londoiij street ■ at' night, _ with the lights'of a cluohouse gloaming out. in'the' darkness, and electric cars passing up and down. • The melodrama "will be repeated this evening, '.v.

. WEST'S PICTURES. V

West's Pictures still draw largo audiences ito the Town Hall to watch with interest the pictures of,tho Antarctic world, which form an attractive item- in tho . present programme. This film is .-very realistic, _ and may almost be said to make the audience shiver as they look at the cold icy regions which form such an effective barrier ,to the South Pole. ' But' if any of the watchers tire of Ecenes of travel ' and 'exploration theyl may have'something entirely different in the kinematographic representation of the George R. Sims story "Lady Letmore's jewels." 'These are but two items picked from a programme which is filled with: pictures interesting, exciting, and amusing.

HIS MAJESTY'S THEATRE.

, Saturday's exhibitions of tho Royal Pictures were very well attended, , the evening ono particularly. This, week's programme oontains ' some vory interesting films such as. "Making Dreadnought Guns ; " which describes the various processes m the manufacture and testing of huge cannon, ' "An Unlucky Return" is a very humorous picture, showing how a couplo returning unexpectedly from a holiday, found their servants holding high revel. The programme will bo repeated to-night. . Jupp's Band gave a performance at Island Bay yesterday. ■ There was a good attendance, and'tho selection,s wero appreciated.