THEATRE ROYAL.

Lyttelton Times, Volume LI, Issue 5587, 21 January 1879, Page 5

THEATRE ROYAL.

The production of Henry V. last night at this theatre by Mr Bignold and a very largo company, was highly successful. The play is not one of Shakespeare’s greatest, but it taxes the resources of dramatic management to the utmost. There are magnificent speeches scattered through the nlay, and it contains some scenes that would be highly effective under any circumstances ; but without pageantry and scenic effects Henry V. would fall fiat. The management had promised those in plenty, and the promise was amply redeemed. An unprecedentedly large cast and ,'a strong body of supernumeraries, all dressed in the various military costumes of the period, with their arms and banners, produced very satisfactorily the effect of large numbers on the stage. The several scenes, with their crowds of painted figures at every point of vantage, adding to the effect of the skilfully grouped living performers, completed a tableau at each of tho great situations of the play, new to tho local experience of Christchurch playgoers. Tho climax of those was the representation of tho battle of Aginoourt, which with tho crowds of knights and soldiery in the foreground, the leaders of both sides in the centre, the skilful perspective of the figures on tho scenes in tho background, fairly realised the confusion and various incidents of the battlefield, which go to make up " tho current of a heady light.” The two scenes before Harilour before and after tho great attack on tho beach were also very remarkable ; tho attacking troops, with thoir cannon on one side of the picture, tho grand figure of tha King in front, tho enemy crowding the walls ana towers of tho fortress, and

the dead lying strewed about, all this was very realistic and effective, Bhowmg what can be done by judgment, careful grouping, skilful painting, and «V nC £°- Ma . ry “properties.” The entry or the King s army into London on its return .from Agincourt was also effective, especially at the close, when the King rode in on horse* back; but it was very much inferior to the others as a spectacle—the reason probably being that numbers go so much further when grouped than when on the move, if tbo numbers arc not out of all proportion to a New Zealand theatre. An effective scene was the English position at Agincourt by night, another was the interior of the Cathedral of Troyes, and a third was the scene after the battle, of the windmill and burning buildings in relief against the landscape, The evident expenditure and careful attention to detail on the part of the management produced Henry the Fifth as a spectacular drama on a scale agreeably new to Christchurch, and on this account alone well worth seeing. A good orchestra provided abundant music during the intervals, necessarily numerous, and some quartette singing was a fairly pleasant though minor feature of the entertainment.

In the title role of the play Mr Eigno!d has found a speciality. Nature has given him a sonorous smooth bass voice, and a splendid presence j and cultivation has enabled him to make much of these great advantages. The Henry Fifth, as drawn by Shakespeare, is a bluff soldier king, shrewd of wit, having the power of vigorous, pithy, masterful language, dignified in repose, energetic in action, quick of temper, full of military frankness and bonhomie , without ceasing for a moment to be the commander of. them. He has some casuistry, but it is in him by policy more than by nature, and he throws it aside early in his career as a weapon not required in his well found armourv. This conception of Henry the Fifth, Mr Bignold handsomely realised. As examples of his best manner may be cited his dealing in the first act to the three conspirators, remarkable for dignity and force; the addresses to the troops in the breach before Harfieur and before the battle of Agincourt (of which there are several), which were fine efforts of declamation; his mingling incognilo amongst the soldiers before the battle, and the episode of the glove, when the bonhomie of the man never lowered the position of the King; and the lovemaking in the last act which was, as intended by Shakespeare, a curious mixture of playfulness, command, and lovemaking, the latter much in the minority. The impersonation would have been better, we think, if the demeanour adopted towards the first of the French Heralds, the one who brought the tennis balls, had been maintained with the others. Henry the Fifth is quick-tempered, but he ought not, we imagine, to lose his temper and dignity when addressing heralds, which Mr Eignold did to some extent last night. Another fault, was an occasional rapidity of utterance, which if the clearness of intonation had been equal to the rapidity would have been highly effective. But these are minor flaws in an impersonation, which, speaking broadly, was a magnificent one, original and remarkably free from stage mannerisms. Miss Solange Navaro, who doubled the ports of the Dauphin and the Princess Catherine, was well received after her long absence. The former part gave her but little to do, and the latter which did not give her very much scope, showed at all events that in light comedy she has made the great progress expected from her when last here. Her conception of this character was excellent, and her acting graceful, natural, and pleasant. Miss Watt, as Rumour, performed a difficult elocutionary task with care, simplicity, clearness, and just the slight amount or gesture necessary to give point to the introductory lines intrusted to her. Mr Power’s Fluellen was exceedingly amusing, pedantic, and peppery, and his Welsh accent, a very trying one indeed to imitate, specially successful, The boisterous fierce braggadocio of Mr Elliot’s Pistol was likewise highly diverting. His scene with theunhappy Frenchman will long be remembered, and the famous occasion of his eating the leek under the fiery persuasion of FlaeUtm wan mario JiT Jha two chief actors upsetting the gravity of the audience. Bardolph found an efficient representative in Mr Burford, whose by-play was very happy and complete. Mrs Quickly was carefully played by Miss Bessie Vivian, and the other characters were fairly filled, in a manner to give good support to the principals. Henry V. will be repeated to-night.