HIS MAJESTY’S.

Evening Star, Issue 13032, 17 August 1908, Page 6

HIS MAJESTY’S.

THE BBATTy-MTKTOSH OOMPASY. The huge audience at' His Majesty's Theatre on Saturday night found much to 1 interest them in the play ‘Her Love Against ■ the World, 1 and in the 1 acting of the company seat hither by Messrs Gnnn. The drama opens unpromisingly with a peculiarly feeble and totally irrelevant comic scene, as unnecessary and as out of place as a pinafore oh a statne, and immediately following tins superfluity there is a somewhat lengthy passage between certain of the principals, intended, presumably, to introduce the chief characters and give the key to,the action, but owing to the speakingbeing inlistinct and very fast the people in mint vere not much enlightened, and many be-. to fear that they were going to he -orried with a spider’s web sort of plot that it would be impofsibl© to follow. This was not a good start. Suddenly, however, | the mists dispersed, the actors became i dearly understandable, and the first act de-1 'eloped into a strong and absorb ng story, | somewhat Ouidakh as to characterisation and ■situations, but without* Ouida’s deification jf the men or her devilisation of the vomen, also without that author’s tediouscess in description, and, as the acting was | worthy of the drama, the audience experienced the rare sensation of a sustained leart-thrill as the incidents chased one another in rapid succession. It is quite nnommon to feel so intensely interested in nelodramo. The tale, so for as. its main heme is concerned, is quite simple. Eric, 'lari of Strathmore, being beggared in 'England, seeks his fortune abroad, inbsts as a trooper. in the serico of a petty German prince who is at ar with the ruler of the neighboring prm iyality, wins a' commission, and is on the neb road to such rank as his sovereign can. onfer, when lie is suddenly disgraced ■rough no fault of his own. He stops a ■nav/ay horse in the street, and thus escucs from peril a lady who turns out to ) A the Princess Iris, then on a visit from ome other country. 'Pie Princess exresses her gratitude, ‘‘makes eyes” at 'ric, and they fall in love with each other, bus it comes about that the Prince, who ieks to wed Iris for her fortune, is told to ■ait. He discovers that Iris’s lover is his iwn lieutenant, and deliberately sets himilf to badger Eric and humiliate him. ccidentally, the Prince also injures Eric’s ounger brother, and his brutality over this fair so works upon Eric that he disobeys ad threatens the Prince, and is “broken” nd sent to prison. Bight through, how■ver, Iris remains faithful to the young 'uglishman, and but there is no ced to spoil the narration for those who re going to the theatre to-night. Very ;igh praise is deserved by the leading jtors for the way they present the drama | i the first and second acts. The hatred i /ith which the Prince regards Eric stares ut of Mr Gaston Mervak’s veiy soul—or o he makes one think —and thus it is not ■ ocessaxy for Mr Mervale to either distort i is visage or to make a speech before strikag the handcuffed Earl to the ground. And n the very fine scene of the second act, heroin Eric is brought from prison and ; overed by the guards’ rifles whilst the ‘rince skats over the prisoner and tortures ■ im with a false yam about Iris, the text I if the play and the acting of Mr Haroourt i Beatty as the Earl and Mr Mervale as the! Prince are all pith and marrow, unspoiled j by a superfluous word or an unnecessary ■estuxo. Miss Madge MTntoeh, the im- I nersonator of Princess Irk, also shares the i honors. This lady reminds one somewhat In Appearance and very much in carriage ( md speech of the Mrs Walter Hill of forty rears ago. If Miss MTntosh does the ■ Evening Star ’ the honor of reading this notice, she may inquire, if not already iware, as fo Mrs Walter Hill’s stage value, md take the remark as a compliment, in ■'lich form we present it. To be oom;wvable to Mi's Walter Hill means ability to play tho lead in standard drama, and "rom what we saw of Miss M‘lntosh on •Saturday night we should say that tais vounsr actress can easily rise, in parts that ■ give the opportunity, to greatness in the j -motional line. She acts most naturally, md with the suggestion of power in re-1 'crvs. ai d, while we may have to wait -for ! her Camille and her Fedora for the full j uroof of her skill, this part of Irie reveals much histrioiic ability, and at the .lame time discloses no handicapping weaknesses. As tho play proceeds it to some jxtent loses its inspiring keenness. Tho third act, in so far as it deals with military matters, is only average melodrama, and the capture of the Prince by Eric (who escapes from prison and goes over to the enemy) is not much above commonplace stage work. Moreover, hereabouts there is room for question as to the way the play I is put on. The general staff of the Saxonian army appear in spotless uniforms, living in tents like those of a carnival, though the force is confessedly in dire

straits, and so knocked about as to be contemplating surrender; and a dramatic point is missed in the fourth scene of this third act when Corona, who is supposed to bo so like Iris as to be taken for her, ia sent off the stage without showing her face. The; audience would have liked to see the likeness of feature instead of having to be content with the likeness of drees. However, these and other discounting features of ‘ Her Love Against the World’ are not sufficient to make one forget the sterling merits of the piece in its earlier stages, and it k a pleasure to be able to commend both the drama and its interpreters. Apart from the competent work of the three principals already named, we saw Mr Norman M'Keown in a most convincing role as Prince Miss Lizette Parkcs played Intelligently the part of the Earl’s boy brother, Mias Hilda Meade made fail use of her few opportunities as Shulah, the woman whom the Prince abandons, and most of the other members or the company did all that was possible to ensure the success of the drama It may be added that Miss M'lntcsU wears superb dresses. Mr F. 0. Chapman leads a competent orchestra* The play is to be repeated this evening. —‘ Camille.’— The character of the wayward hapless Camille has had many exponents in Australia from Madame Sarah Bernhardt downwards. Mks MTntosh has had a long and versatile theatrical career, during which she has portrayed many characters, but, judging by the criticisms of her performance of Camille in Melbourne, Sydney, and elsewhere, the part is one of the best she has undertaken. Mr Harcourt Beatty, himself an actor of long experience, is quite enthusiastic over the production of ‘Camille’ generally, and of Miss MTntosh’s impersonation particularly, and he is ' confident that Dunedin theatre-goers will thoroughly appreciate the play. ‘Camille’ was put on at the end of a four months’ season in Melbourne, said Mr Beatty Ids morning, “ and it drew splendid houses; in fact, I do not exaggerate when I say it attracted enormous business. Tii? enthusiasm displayed on the last night of the play is something to remember, and it was indeed pleasing to the management and the company to find that their efforts had met with such pronounced approbation. Singularly enough. Miss MTntosh played the part for the first time, and her success was instantaneous. I think the Dunedin ! public will appreciate her reading of Duma’s ■ creation. She puts more light and shade into the part than most interpreters of ‘ Camille.’ She is, too, more the gay; courtesan, and there it is that art is made to conceal art. She imparts a touch of com- 1 monneas with such insouciance that the, audience are gripped, so to speak, from the j start. Miss MTntosh is truly grand in j ‘ Camille,’ and, personally, I congratulate her from the bottom of my heart for giving us such a noble performance of a truly complex park There are several new bite of ‘business’ introduced- into the production j of the play, and when I say that Mr Gaston I Mervalo is the stage manager it will be | readily understood that nothing has been I 1-o‘f 11 r>done to m-’ka the performance a msri- - terious and artistic one. The whole company have put their best efforts into this ''S’ to ""n 1 n it wb'at I have already said it is. Alterations have been made by Mr Mervalo. who k thoroughly conversant with every detail of the play; but they bn ---i rot been made for the mere-sake changes, but to add to the success of the

piere generally* : Certainly, tlie Melbourne pubKo approved of what we have done in an unmistakable manner. The ball 'room scene opens with a pieretto ounce, which Miss MTntosh has arranged, and in place of excerpts frcsn' the opera ‘La-Traviata’ being played by the orchestra, the music composed by Mr F. Wynn Jones- will be given here for the first time. Mr Jones’s sweet melodies will,/ I am euro, prove a decided attraction, and in- the last act, when Camille lies on ..nor deathbed, the ‘March of the marionette’ is played in the street, the idea being that the unfortunate woman was, after a}l, only a doll, and not to be taken seriously. Tnisis an original innovation, and it is most pathetic and effective. I have played Armand many tames, my first interpretation of the charatoer being fifteen yeans ago at the Olympic Theatre, London, with Mies -Grace Hawthorne. -It may be thought at first that my’ rendering of the part, particularly in the opening portions, savors of coldness, but I mean it for (diffidence. Armand, who is a provincial, looks upon Camille with a pure mind. To him she is a beautiful creature, and be does hot view her with the prces-mindedness of the Parisians. Altogether, lam certain the Dunedin public will like the production of ‘ Camille 1 to-morrow by the company.