AMUSEMENTS.

Daily Southern Cross, Volume XXVI, Issue 4002, 20 June 1870, Page 4

AMUSEMENTS.

THEATRE BOYAL:"' " # There -was an excellent house at this convenient and handsome little theatre on Saturday evening, and the programme was appropriate for such an audience as usually patronises the places of amusement on tbte night. The piece of the evening was the dramatised version of Mis 3 Braddon's novel of "Lady Auilley's Secret." The plot is one em ineutly adap ted for dramatic representation , but the actors have evidently dealt unmercifully with the details. The sensational incidents duTused throughout Miss Braddon'.i novel are heie compressed into a much smaller compaa3. Bigamy, murder, arson, and suicide lollovv each other like the succeeding changes of a kaleidoscope. It may bo sufficient to say that the story is i.nprobable, and that it is utterly deficient in any moral or definite aim. The plot is, in fast, all ghtter and tms.el and sham, and nofc half so fciuc to nature as any one of tin honest old diamas in which, after a senes at tnald, virtue always tinunphcd In MiS3 Lraddon's novel virtue does not triumph, but vice is worsted. The aim of the authoi seems to have been to point oat how utterly wicked sjuu wom^n miy be, bub &ho m ike^ her heioine a clumsy one a!* the bast, and wicked women are not q nerally clum&y. As to the production of the piece, it was m mo&t lesptcts ci editable to the Star Com pany. By the way, why is it 'hat every second company we meet with designate..-, itself a ' ' star " company ? Is it to be inferred that every company so named is composed of veritable "stars"? If so, tbe company at the Royal have chosen a misnomer. The part of Robert Audley, set down in the bills opposite Mr. llayner's name, fell to the lot of Mr. South, who most probably took up the character at short notice, for to our mind he was decidedly not at home in it. Mrs. H. Jackson's Lady Ainlley is said, in the language of the stage, to be "her great impersonation." We scarcely believe it is, though we admit that she sustains it fokilfully, and with a proper appreciation of the author's intention. Indeed Mrs. Jackson makes about as much out the character as can possibly be made of it. The outward beauty and the dangerous attractiveness of Lady Audley are of the tigress. The seeming childishness and occasional generosity only cover a heart utterly wicked. There is no apparent conscience in the woman ; she does not shudder at the blackest crimes ; she is in fact not womanly in her nature at all except in her ambition. Mrs. Jackson seems to us to make Lady Audley mad almost from the beginning; and perhaps she is right, for no sane woman could ever aot as Lady Audley is supposed to aot. Mrs. Jackson's great points in this oharacter are the forcible nay in whioh the woman's outward beauty and inward wickedness are contrasted. The inward tempest of passion is well poui'trayed in a way that only a woman could pourtray it. The promptings of murder are always strong in the nature of Lady Audley. She has little of the gentleness of woman ; a word of defiance sets her vengeful spirit in motion, and the clutching and nervousness of the hands denote the thirst to kill struggling with fear. The character is an exaggerated and unnatural one, but Mrs. Jackson ia true to the plot, both in her acting and her appearance. Mr. J. Simmonds was Bubbles,^, dissipated footman, and it is neealesa to say that he was apparently quite at home. Mr. J. Howard's Bibbles was a really clever piece of acting in its way, and the make-up perfectly en regie. Mr. Howe was not coarse enough for Luke Marks, but he did his best. Mr. Glover, as Sir Michael Audley, was out o' his pioper element. Mrs. Joyce made a substantial Alicia, and on the whole acquitted heiself fairly. The piece went off well, and the principal characters were called before the curtain. In the interlude Mrs. Sam Howard danced in a really accomplished manner, elicitii gan encore. The less said about Mr. Howes Irish ballad the better: he was most inappropriately attired, and neither his voice nor his accent was natural. The best thing of the evening was a Scotch reel by Mr. Glover and Miss Raymond, which was enthusiastically encored. The farce of "The Wandering Ministrel," which concluded the evening's performance, served to bring out Mr. Howai'd's abilities as a low comedian.

PRINCE OF WALES. Shakspeare's beautiful tragedy of " Macbeth" Avas attempted to be put on the stage at the above place of amusement on Saturdaynight. There was but a moderate attendance. Mr. OBrien, as Macbeth, seemed quite at home, played well and effectively, and it Avas a great pity he was not better supported. Mr 3. Walter Hill, as Lady Macbeth, went through her part pretty fairly ; as also Mr. Ryan as Macduff. Messrs. OBrien and Ryan received well-merited applause by being called before the curtain, at the close of the performance. Ths after-piece of ' ' The Governor's Wife" seemed a pretty good relief from the first part of the entertainment. Mr. and Mrs. McGowen kept the house in roars of laughter. — To-night, the drama founded on Charles Reade'a great novel of the same name, "It is Never too Late to Mend," will be performed, and we hope to see a full house to witness this really splendid play, containing a moral lesson to all.