ENTERTAINMENTS, ETC.

Evening Post, Volume LXXII, Issue 68, 18 September 1906, Page 6

ENTERTAINMENTS, ETC.

— r THE WILLIAMSON SEASON. . "MERELY MARY ANN." 'Zangwill cleverly worked out a pretty notion in his book "Merely Mary Ann." His hero is Lnncelot, son of a barone^ reduced to a bed-sittingroom in a lodg-ing-house, under a landlady of unlovely mien.-- "Pride^ and a devotion to art have laid "him - low," from, tho view-point of material wealth, but ho is high in ideate. He is a musician, a composer whose brain throbs with melodies- -classical. He commits them to paper, sends them to p.ub^sners, and has. thorn returned reguiirly. , An old chum, Peter, who surreptitiously, made a, hit with a'popular "sentimental" ditty, urges Lancelot to similarly stoop to conquer,. - but- tho proud patrician snorts with disgust. He takes another hitch in his' 'belt, and lesolveo to have some more' meals of' vain dreams. In the meantime .his hours of dreariness ate partially cheered by a pretty general servant, Mary Ann, a guileless girl from I the country, who secretly worships him. In a plebi&n moment of weakness he kissed her^.but.afterwards had a fit of repugnance, and washed his lips in horror. Gradually Mary. Ann., grows upon the moody musician till one day when his b*iw of fortune is -peeping- from its cloud, and he is resolving' to seek a fresh place of residence, he consents to take Mary Ann- with -nim. Then the providence that "has. 'seen tho' servant suffer ' front ftftV.etty,' sh,<iw,ers half ,a".jn.illion pounds, a legacy from a long-lost brother,, on her adfeurn head.-- That accident maizes the' aristocrat decide to go alone. .^Mary.Ann reaps,' and her idor tells her that only as man and. wife-could they travel forth together, and he cannot marry her. So tltev^ldrJlt^ApaTt.^'/ln the, play MrrZang\eill has added sufficient to bring 'in' th© altar and the joy-bells without" which no play is, complete if it desires to please the, multitude.-- -From the beginning onekpe'ivr'inevftab'ly that £he herb and heroine TKPuld;qnUag?e, into \sisb." other's arms before th© last curtain. This perpetual "happy-endiny," on the recognised lines, makes ." "simia people sigh for a change, Ipng'^for-a drama in which the final lights will-fad"c on- a man determined to- be a" tjachel'dr, ejren if he has to, wear a smokitigffcap.'and 'slippers' to_;match; or on a ■woman bent on spinsterhood,' even if it entails., devotion to parrots, cats, and Ci^yats |pr,. curates, Mr., Zangwill has also introduced extra "characters and "business." A little of ' the padding Bvnk«..to.th.e v ,farcicaJ,. but,,jt. js .mostly droll. It is a clean . play, a wholesome patch of life, as long as it ifi. faithful tothe original story. There is some sharp satire harmoniously Woven into •the' , theme, and pathos and humour chase one anotHex like 'tKe flights 'and) shades, 'on 'a field under a half-cloudy aky. As flayed by the Williamson Company last night, the -piece, seemed to satisfy the.yast miJprity of,' an' audience' .which' filled' the Qpera House, though the people with a grievance "would not be a negligible quantity...;.: :.._ „ . ...,.- -- Irrthe^gnisoof iiary-Ann, Miss Tittell Bruner had a-very difficult party and, adcording to' one' critic dioT not reproduce ' ZangTrßl's Mary Ann, though she pleased the house as a whole. Her performance was patchy. She had her moments of inspiration .when ehe. caught the. spirit- of the transplanted country girl, and her movements and -voicing were-then-admir-able. ■ • But. she- fell from -grace af other" times'," and' was Miss Tif tell rather than Miss Mary Ann. Her chief fault "was the one which she displayed^ in Leah Kleschna, a tendency £o lapse info 'melancholy moaning tones even in moments of ecstacy.-"" ":h-s 'Lancelot; Mr.'Thomas'Kings-ton-did not 'maintain the standard he set in the two preceding" plays.- H,e, w,ae irankl^r^-niejddrantatic/.wi^i-: Jucid;interTals.. He developed an irritating habit of talking at the audience after the manner of a persecuted hero in "the latest sensational production." His' chum Pe^er^fMr. John Beauchamp) worked honestly! but"-h^V3 enefgy-'-was sometimes misdirected. A Abput_ the most meritorious characterisation ■ was. Miss ' Susie Vaugban's 1 -Mrs.- Leadbatter/ >a typical London landlady^?- Her make-up was convincing^ _ _Sh©..had a certain standard of exceHene«7 in- voice- and-manner, and maintained ' It. ' Another 'praiseworthy artisiu was_Mr . J. B. Atholwood, in the clothes of the- Rev Smedge. The character—?he '"dramatist's fault, if any" one's— Blight have jarred some people's susceptiBiiities, but it was well pourtrayed. There was a large number of other performers, of varying ability. "Merely Mary Ann" will agairf appear $o-night. .. .. _. • J . FULLER'S ENTERTAINERS. */>This- -week's programme at the Theatre Royal ' Is.' 1 Varied and entertaining to a de<»ree, and last .night attracted another full hou&e. The Cannos are, of course, tho star turn, but the other members of an exceptionally strong company eecure their full measure of appreciation, notably Mr. A.\L. Cropp, the basso, tho Musical Gardners, the. Rowell Sisters, MJ?B Jyy, pallardi, Little Jackson, the bioscope pictures, etp? A rehearsal of"Handel's "Messiah" is ~Zo be held in the Hutt Methodist Church to-morrow "mghr. A movement .is pn, fpot to, giye t the work during the Christmas' season, and vocalists residing, at the Hntt and Petonc should be .interested. | Already four of the church choirs have combined for the 'purpose, and 'these,, numbering some 80 members -with outsiders, should form a fairly strong- chorus. It ia intended! to ■hoid- practices at Petone and the Hutt, and to render the woik in the Hutt Drill -HalL-

Civil proceedings were -to-day -taken- in the Magistrate's Court by" Samuel Peck against Reuben King and Walter White for the- recovery of £62 ss, value of 'plaintiff's share in an alleged partnership in" *a" Jar'uf - Mr. Blair 'appeared for plaintiff, and Mr. Myers for the defendants, " A preliminary point was raked for Ihe.defencs ,to. the effect that^his Wt>{> .shjp had,.. no jurisdiction to hear or disjpose of the case as it involved going into partnership "accounts." ' For the plaintiff It' W3A "contended that the matter was. purely one of the value of certain stock, crops, and buildings; that plaintiff had eugered expulsion. ftojnitlje. farm, and defendants were withholding from him a third_ share in- -the- determined partner.sKip ;"alsd that there were no debts. His Worship, on counsel's application, adjourned the case until -next Tuesday, and decided in the meantime to look into the cases citetUy Arthur W. ! Schaef sued Fnmk-Natrrass for 15s rent, in lieu of notice. Judgment was for plaintiff for 10s 'SaVw-ittres-cost*.." A claim- for fi3 -was made by John Blaker pig fanner, Karori, ■against- Cha,9, Frost, Karori, in respect of .two. pigs! .Plaintiff was nonsuited with —Mry-Wilfflwl appeared foi -p&intfff and -Mr, Kirkcaldie for the defendant . . , Last_ night individuals who arrived late in the* dress ' circle at the Opera House were a malignant nuisance.. When the curtain rose at 8 o'clock scarcely more 4han -half the eeats. were occupied,' but' fTie"b'thefa* were 'reserved, and the lessees stalked in behind time to the great annoyance of people who did not want undesifa'ble rustlings' and shufflings dinning their ears while the play was in pro,,The secretary oi the" Wellington Trades and Labour Council reports a satisfactory response. -to th« - appeal mad© •to citizens by the Laßour Day' Picnic" Committee. The ca'rnjiyal, which will be held on Wed--Besday, 10th October, promises to be a great success.