NELLIE STEWRT

Evening Star, Issue 14163, 13 September 1909, Page 5

NELLIE STEWRT

IN 'SWEET HJTTY BFLLAIRS.'

ITER. pSST PART SO FAR

Syrfe)y N/ejlio Stewart must have descended from Jpeh.ua, at whceo command the sun stood still upon Gibeon. In form and carriage, as well as in face, she ifi always the matchless Matcotte. Her personality ig perennial; her fascinations never fade. The greatest marvel of all about Nellie Stewart i- !'■ '. besides bagging the man wholesale, the also captures th,o women. Thjs is quite a eingujar power. Most actresses who can make up young, arid theroby becomo the subjects li idolatry! would, if flowered with omniscience, find some envious eyes gazing and trying to find joints in their armor. Not so with Nellie Stewart. High and low, rich and poor, both sexes alike, render Jior a kind of homage and rejoice to see her looking so well. Directly sho opened her mouth at tho Princess Theatre on Saturday night tho remark " I'm so sorry she's got a cold," or woTds to that effect, passed" as a matter of real sympathy round the house, and everyone was glad to find a few minutes later that the "trouble merely led to a slight rough, and did not disable _or distross the voice. One who in Nellie Stewart's prominent position can thus escape the shafts of malice and retain tho people's affection and become the subject of porsonal interest must be 'great" in the best sense of the phrase. And with tho lady now under notice this greatness is upt purely corporal, hijt also 1 u n laree cle S r C fl intellectual. How else shall we account for the fact that over a period of three hours and a-half—the play lasted from a. quarter to eight till twenty paflfc eleven, and Miss Stewart was on tho stage nearly all the time—Sweet Kitty hold thp attention of an audience that generally grows restless after, sav, 10.30? The truth is that tho time slipped away unconsciously, and everybody waited to find out whether Kitty would tee Verney once more before he went off to tho war. They felt deeply interested, ft is an exceptionally pretty drama, and if written expressly for 'Nellie Stewart it could not have suited her bettor. A stern critic would probably not praise all Miss Stewart's methods in the representation of the Irish widow. Sho is Tather given to high pitch in speech, take, as an example of an opportunity missed for want of hall tones, tho Jove scene on the garden scat in the first act, Verney telle Kitty of a dream that he had about- her. He was just about to kiss her, ] lO says, when he awoke, Tho text gives Kitty tho reply "What a pity you woke so soon." Miss Stewart adopted For that reply a tone of shrewish reproach. The, opposite method—a sHi and a whisper to herself—might have been more effective. So, in a lesser degree, perhaps, with a few other passages. there was a tendency to extremes' in speech. But, conceding all this, and goiiv even the further step of admitting that Nellie Stewart's impersonation is a little wanting in. subtlety, it nevertheless remains that she got her effects all the line. Her wondrous magnetic force compensated for and momentarily hid all the cracks in the carpentry of'the portrayal, and this real flesh-and-blocd Kitty got. further into the affections of tho listeners than wolild have, been possible to any impersonator of the faultproof and formal tvpe, such as a college would produce. Do not, please, take out of these remarks the suggestion that Miss Stewart's speech was generally open to question. Such an idea is not intended. Many excellent hits came from her tongue Those present will call to mind one notable speech of throe words at the end of the third art. The ladies of Bath have conspired to eject Kitty from the ballroom, as a token that she is, dethroned from her position as the society queen. Kitty replies that, sho will produce a witness whose evidence will show complete innocence in respect to the compromising situation of the second act. Julia, consequently appears and promptly " noes back" on Kitty. ft is then, when left unsupported to hear the taunts of the jealous women, that Kitty- says " [ H hall stay," and the way iii which Nellie Stewart utered those words quite thrilled the house. Tt was a genuine sensation, produced with the art of a real actress. On the elocutionary side of the portrayal, then, wq may find entries both debit and credit from the regulation standpoint. But it is only on that side that the stoniest can find a vulnerable spot. Pictqnally this Kity is all vivacity and wit: and whether in a pet as when, in the third act, she says "For the love of Gcd take me to a. place where I can faint in peace," or in dumb action, as when she is titivating Julia Standish so as to make her tease her husband and provoke his jealousy, the effects worn secured with unerring sureness, and apparently they cost no effort. Brought to the supreme test, tho results produced, Kittv Bellairs is undoubtedly the greatest of Nellie Stewart's impersonations er > f,, r SL , Pn ; u y e , y 7 P;l ] anf ] ) and we may perhaps lie pardoned for pointing out. in support of this statement, that, Kitty Bellairs is quite free from the mannerisms—pretty, but it was feared ineradicable—that originated with Yvonne and Bettina. and peeped out with some effrontery in subsequent drama, parts. Her Kitty is a pelf-contained and well-finished conception. '

Other thoughts about 'Sweet Kitty Bellairs' also claim publicity. The most striking characteristic of the play itself is itn picturesque-less. The, opening scene, showing the lawn in front of Prideaux Hall tho temporary quarters of the officers of tho 51st Regiment and their guests the luni-i----lulhngs, with tho men's touts in the middle distance and the citv in the rear, is a veritable triumph of scenic, art, and uncommonly English in type, to the smallest detail; and throughoirt'the critical eve was well catered for, the stage arrangements. Lwing rich and tasteful, whilst the color contracts provided by the uniforms of tho military, the elegant panniers and petticoats, and the furnii-hinL's of the interiors adequately represented Uath at its gayest, as we get'it on the stage in 'Monsieur Jieaucairo' and in books that depict tho period when Beau Nash was in his glory. Only ono anachronism whs noted. It was m regard to the playing of the. church bells. This has a delightful effect, quite in luirMony with the stately movements of the actors and the general amenity of the surroundings, lint tho boll-plavor made, an unfortunate choice in selecting as his tune I)r Monk's netting of 'Abide with me.' inasmuch as it was iinst nublisluKl in 1361 so that Kitty Bellairs could not have heard it in tho days when George HI. W ns Kin". That, however, is a very small matter. The play is to be commended primarily, as stated, because it charms the eye, "and secondly because, it, faithfully shows the doings and the sayings of the people represented, instead of wearying the audience bv putting moral reflections and wordy speeches into tho mouths of the characters." As one of tho important pictorial aids the prologue deserves special recognition. Tho, idea is prettily worked out. The rising of the curtain disclose* folding curtains, through which Mr James Itowne enters, dressed 1u wig and black stockings, and announce, with a bow : " Ladies and gentlemen,—Mistress Chard will speak the prologue." ft is a quaint little ceremony, carrying the mind hack to tho manners of our'grandfathers whoso dignified ways are almost forgotten, in these days of utility and rush. What too, could be more elmiming than Mi? s Marjone Chard's prologue? Nothing unless' it be the lady herself. In play .\[jfs Chard is merely one of the Indies who say "How are you?" "Your servant,," etc. One may suppose it to be a strong company when Miss Chard can be spared for so small a part. And yet these ladies' parts are not small in the sense of being insignificant. They help largely to give the plav ita proper atmosphere. Viewed in that light, the whole of the persons engugtd had important duties, and that imjxirtance is not to be. measured by the length of the speeches assigned to each. Mr Claude King, for instance, ha* not a great deal to say, but his acting of Sir ■Jasper Slandi«h, the Tybaltlike baronet, who is frantically jealous of

bis wife, \$ most effective. Hq speaks re-' markably well, and is evidently an experienced actor. Others who with this company are making tljeir first appearance in New Zealand are Mr Fredk. Moyes, cast as the; Colonel of the fjlst Regiment; Mr I/anghprne Burton,' who enacts with distjnpt for all that his manner is quiet, the role of the hero, Lieutenant Verney, fa.yp.red hy the widow; and Miss Rcsslyn whose duly it is to portray Lady Jujja. gtondish. As to the -rest o"f the cast, it must, ppffice to'rhentjon Mr Conway Wingfield (who played tpe love-sick and testy Captain O'Hara very capably), Mr Colin Gtmpbell (Major MacTeagne), Mr Templer Powell (representing Captain Spicer). an<l Miss Madeleine Meredith (the deposed belle of Bath) as lending efficient support. But it is not a play in which to judge the company finally. Opportunities of (Joing this may come litter. %.arjwhile, it suffices to say j;hat the cast did not prove any weaknesses, and thpiigh one or two may have been suggested, we should sav that on the whole the principals are well supported. ' Sweet Kitty' is to be repeated to-night. Do nqt forget that the performance begins at 7.45.