THEATRE ROYAL.

Hawke's Bay Herald, Volume XXXII, Issue 10628, 5 June 1897, Page 3

THEATRE ROYAL.

B'KANK LINCOLN'S ENTERTAIN" MENT. The melancholia, the ftlemtt k which has pervaded the atmosphere In Napier since the late disastrous flood was dltpelled for r ooaple of houra by Frank Lincoln last night at the Theatre Royal, when he was reoelved by a orowt!ed touae, Id was quite n trpat lo ace people laqgh again, We thought they hnd quite lost the I facalty of laughter, that the depressing Influences of recent occurrences bad deadened everybody, so far a; uirth wbb concerned, at loaifc ig't a time. Therefore m' bail Lincoln's visit as a very welcome one Indeed. People who have been going about town for tb,e laßt els weeks thoroughly (q th,s dumps were roneed from, fchei' k^iournfr^t condition, and laughed, ajl night. And It was hearty laughter, too, the laughter which Qhatlas Lamb said was Wajbh, q tJ\oqaftpd groans In any mark.et, Mr Llooqln'a ontettalnuieut Is one that all elaesei in the oommunlty can enjoy. He employ* the peonllarltlea and ldlosvnoraoles of eharaoter of all m> M n ■*' hli endeavor to oreatp m'l.fi, '"*~? l a °?^nO^:/o y the.iluSatswh«S «n k'Vßb to serve hta purpose. He admits himself that in order to agooppplfgh this end be must stray (?om the paths of qomGAQn-sgase into the green fields of nonsense, and very green he finds that field. It Is kept flourishing without the sllghtost effort ; one good story leads into another with suoh faolllty that the andlsnoe have no sooner paused for breath than off they are again into the realms of laughter. Mutio, social etiquette, the olab room, the home-all give dim splendid soope for his shafts. Thoae are very effectively directed, and the pictures are co true to life that they are alt the mora laughable beoause they seera so lijdlorous. None failed to iteeognlse the' profoaslonal w'usiulan aa Mr Lincoln deploted him, with Mb gyrations bud gymnastloß, and the floor mighd have Veoq qoml'nß np or the ceiling oomlog down in sympathy with, the performance of the masioiun. &U this, ol oouroe, was left) so the imnßlnaUon, and the general hilarity that prevailed whilst thii wiw beiug done Bhowed that tha enteralner hod gi»en a five obaraoter por trayal, Tho Ame»ioans, he tells us, joke too much, but he did not fall to take advantage of the opportunity whloh the American oharaoter gave him for B.;ghumojong stage oailoatare, Xfae

t stamp orator waa a oftpltnl lllnstratlon. The German ballad linger was as fanny it, piece of mlmiory as oonld havo bein desired, while with equal humor did the entertainer depict the Frenchman in his nttempt at comic singing. The imitation of the London daneeroom youth; the feline which provokes such moledlotiona at nipht time ; the friendly parrot whioh ioterjaote naßty thlnce to discomfit hla owners ; the old lady whose early looki ore her adoration ; the bnv the "pride of the home," who "glveß the pater away,' and the maiden fair who warbles nfc amateur oonoartd— all these and many nioro were described in nn loliDitublo way, until the andlenoo ioirlv Bbook with lauK'jtor. Mr Lincoln oou- ! oludod his exoellout perforuianoe by «v urUetlo illuotirotlou of how oomo favorite drinkß are aerved up, whioh aunt overv- 1 body away in a delighted mood, votlno the entertainment tho moat enjoyable they had witnessed for many yeare, MrLinooln oppears BRaln tonlohtfnr a second and last time, when he will present on entlro ohange of programme.