THEATRE ROYAL.

Lyttelton Times, Volume LI, Issue 5597, 1 February 1879, Page 5

THEATRE ROYAL.

“Alone” and “Blaok-eyed Susan” were the plays selected last night, which was the occasion of Mr Bignold’s benefit, when he was honoured by the presence of a large and fasliionable audience. The first, a drama by Palgrave Simpson and Herman Merivale, is the story of an old gentleman (Colonel Ghallice), who, by long brooding over his wrongs, has fallen into a state of blindness and Til health. These wrongs are the confession of his wife on her death bed, that she had never loved him, and the elopement of bis daughter from a boarding school. The double disappointment makes him lead a life of seclusion, railing against women, sometimes sarcastic, sometimes morose, always excitable and miserable. He is attended by a doctor who treats him with great consideration and friendliness, and ultimately cures him of his blindness. His only companion is a cousin, a poor creature, who, in the hope that a speedy death will give him the old man’s property, becomes the butt of his sarcasms, submits generally to all his whims, and does all he can to keep any one else from 'coming near him. A charming widow, however, establishes herself through the doctor's mediation in the Colonel’s good graces, and dissipates much of the gloom prevailing in his house. The old Colonel is fond of Shakespeare, and the sycophantic cousin reads him his favourite author, but bores him excessively by murdering his best passages. The doctor and the widow, to make a diversion, introduce a young lady to relieve the cousin of the office. This turns out to be the old gentleman’s daughter, who adopts this means of approaching her father. Having been by the false representations of a jealous schoolfellow induced to leave the boarding-house, not to elope with her lover, but to meet her father, and having been by the same schoolfellow denounced anonymously to her father as a shameless woman, and cast off by him in consequence, she is anxious to find an opportunity to explain. The excitable condition of the old blind colonel makes matters difficult for her, and the sudden appearance of her lover on the scene complicates them to an almost hopeless extent. The doctor is mystified, the fascinating widow who happens to be the lover’s cousin, and who has playfully confessed that she has allowed him to kiss her, becomes jealous, the cousin intrigues against them all, the lover loses his head, and the old gentleman fumes and frets at everything and everybody. When the lover discovers himself, and the old gentleman rushes at him to kill him, the denouement appears to be farther off than ever. But the doctor proves to be the Detts ex machina. He comes to the rescue with the jealous schoolfellow’s confession, and a successful operation. The one opens the old Colonel’s mind, and the other restores him his bodily vision. A scene is contrived for the shameless cousin, who is made to read aloud to all the persons engaged in this|history, the jealous school girl’s confession. He discovers that she is his own wife, he understands that his chances of the property are gone, and he goes too, Yirtue is triumphant, the old gentleman is radiant, the fascinating widow bestows herself on the doctor, and the curtain goes down to lively music. Of the old Colonel Mr Eignold made a most excellent character study j in make-up, voice, and gesture he was perfect, and his assumption of blindness was to the life. An old gentleman, gloomy and sorrowful, breaking out into biting sarcasms and fits of ungovernable fury, feebl-, and courteous withal—such was the impersonation of Mr Eignold. How pathetic were those displays of headstrong, overmastering passion, what a heartiness in his sarcasms and bursts of contempt, yet how polite he was to the doctor, and how natural that groping about, and all those little movements, each speaking eloquently of the loss of sight. Nothing could be finer than his apologies to the fascinating widow for the rudeness of his sudden fits of rage (the feeble old hand wandering about the table in search of hers), except perhaps the manner in which he hastened to make amends by graceful speeches of exceeding gentleness and gallantry. When the fascinating widow hereupon rallied the younger men on their inferiority, everyone took it as a matter of course. The change that came over the old man’s spirit when the women came about him was a beautifully studied dramatic effect. How much more in his right mind the old gentleman seemed, how tender he was with the young lady, how pathetically he talked with her of Cordelia, and Began, and Goneril, and how quickly he saw reason when it came from the fascinating widow. This state of things having been destroyed utterly by the outburst of fury caused by the discovery of the lover, who rashly attempts to explain to' the over-excited old colonel, the dramatists did well to take the colonel off the scene for a time. The temporary absence lets him come back cured and happy, which Mr Eignold made him do last night most evidently. With a pretence of anger (which, as an unmistakable pretence, was a very fine little bit of acting) at pretending to learn for the first time of her being in his bouse under an assumed name, he introduces the closing scenes with quiet masterly effect. A more successful impersonation no one could wish to see. As William in “Black-Eyed Susan,” Mr Eignold had a very different role to play. His manner of playing it would never have caused anyone suspect that ten minutes before he had been impersonating an aristocratic elderly gentleman. Ho was the sailor to the life, rather too much of the “ shiver my timber ” type, which belongs to literature and the drama, but that was the fault of Douglas Jerrold, not of Mr Eignold. In the fun and rollicking humour that belong to the earlier portions of the play Mr Eignold was quite at home. Ho was the bluff young sailor, brawny of limb, loud of voice, healthy of sentiment, joking with his messmates, protecting his wife, and playing his violin and dancing a hornpipe luce one to the manner born. The last performance brought him (we regret, on account of. the audience, to say it) the loudest applause of the evening. In the scenes after the court-martial the pathos of Mr Eignold was very touching. A more moving episode than the parting between William and Susan has never been acted in this theatre. In “Alone" Mrßtguoldwas well supported by the rest of the oast. Miss Jennie Watt made the very fascinating indeed; with the arch" vivacity and pleasant good.humour one looks for in modern light comedy; and Miss Annie Mayor played the Colonel’s daughter with a simple quiet tenderness of manner. Mr Elliot gave a good representation of Strawless

the designing and somewhat foolish cousin, as far as any one can give, a good representation of a character so artificially drawn, and Mr Vincent was successful with the Doctor, a Sart far better conceived. As tho lover, Mr Cooper played carefully. Miss Solange Navaro's Susan was carefully studied and very well impersonated. As an emotional actress, two scenes in which she took port entitle her to take high rank. These were the meeting between William and Susan in tho cottage after his long voyage, and the parting of_ the same characters in the scene succeeding William’s condemnation to death. Miss Navaro’s portrayed of the ext remes of joy in the one and sorrow in the other, won for her tho sympathies of the audience. Tho stillness in which the last of these scenes was heard was a high tribute to the excellent acting of both Miss Navaro and Mr Bignold. The little incident by Mr Eignold of placing his neck-handker-chief on the neck of Susan as she is carried out fainting, was very finely conceived. Miss Bessie Vivian did very well as Dolly Mavllower, Mr Whyte did the cruel uncle with a fine conception of villany, Mr Howe’s Jacob Twig was sufficiently crawling, and Mr Powers Guatbrain was, like oil his roles are, well played. The rest of the cast was well filled. For to-night, “ Tho Lady of Lyons" and “ Black-eyed Susan” are announced."