THEATRE ROYAL.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CV, Issue 12422, 11 February 1901, Page 6

THEATRE ROYAL.

"LA TOSCA."

'•■■'■'"La ' Tosca-' • -is ' : a play -'ivhi.cb'. has; been made faniiliar to'OhrisPqji'UTcli ta.rea^re-: ..gibers, 'by. pre\ious...representation. '.:.,. Of the; '•tragedies so far 'pres'-ented by -Miss: O'Neil ■tlr'.s probacy approximately'' as .it does.danigerc'ufciy* .near, to .melodrama in mudh, of its .'iiroidpn'fc". Z It is an i'il-comstTuc't.ed play, too", Ifor. through-' out the opening acts .it is markedly void of action and heavy withf-narrative that- might with advantage be. condensed. When/ it is ■added that Saturday night's audience -wjas a singularly unresponsive one, with' a noticeable element of those people who whisper aloud alb'&itica'l moments, and; of those, fur-, ther people who laugh .'consumed'ly in fill, appreciation of the humour of the ■ eontoi-; .tionsTflf death..and.'.'"• the- -mirth-provoking, nahire.of the hysteria, of.emotion, it wiL be-readily gathered".di-at the circumstance::; were not such as made for an unqualifi?c dramatic success. ...The stars in their ..courses seemed; indeed, to be fighting against "this • alien- " stair."- The Ferris wheel' took the opportunity to Wow off steam in one of the most tragic interludes of the play, and other Saturday night noises drifted insistently at malapropos moments through the open windows. And then, to crown all, the unpardonable refusal of a ■property pistol'to go off at the right moment subjected the tragedienne to the culminating mortification.* of an annoying anti-climax, upon .which the 'curtain fell. But these were of misfortune, and net the..reproaefh of HI-' interpretation, for. Miss .O'NfiTs "Tosca" was quite as fins a study as her " Feao-ra." She laughs too undeservedly in those earlier scenes with Mario, where in the complexity of an emotionalism of deepest love, haunted by the suspicion of jealousy and sobered by a present act of devoutn-ess, she taxes Km,-half-lightly to himself hut surely wh'plefeolingly to her own heart, with infidelity.. It was the firfet loss of her marvellous " cruel reserve," .and suggested once again that, her •triumphs are won and to be won, in-those scenes -where the stonm of passion dims or brightens her eyes, hardens her mouth, sinks.her voice to that telling, almost rasping, quality "which she uses with, such effect, and sweeps out of'"'Nance O'Neil into "Magda"'or "Fedora" or "Tosca." Her taunting of the dying "Scarpia" was almost. too horribly suggestive of reality, and the whole of th'is scene stands out as one of her finest performances. The more one sees of Miss O'Neil, the more one is at issue with the estiimlate so almost invariably*recorded 1 that it is her' magic personality which wins her triumphs. Her success is deeper founded than that.; indeed,, from the generallyaccepted meaning of the somewhat cheap phrase " magic -"ersonality " Miss. OTSfeills complete aloofness from her audience an-d.j whole-hearted association with her character df the moment ban her most emphatically. She plays not at all at her audience, and there can foe mo " magic personality " for the individual in the Teal " Fedora " or the real " Tosca," as which only one is permitted io 'know -Miss O'Neil. - She wens because! her genius' n-as thrown to the. four winds the historic stage traditions which bid passion pose, idealise emotionalism with a graceful artificiality, make death wholly digncfiVl, and mock life by the assumption that tragedy is altars 'beautiful where heroism is concerned. Miss O'Neil hais come from these heights, and hesitates at none of life's uglinesses when reality demands .them, and-it is this unfeminine■appreciation oithe proportion of the scheme df things, or at lea*t the -spirit 'of it administered, by her ability, which makes her stand, out among her fpllow-profpssi.ra.als. : Th-sre is no, question of her,, ability as an actress, but.even she has, her limit atioas, as she will doubtless veadilv'confess,, and has yet to'justify the extravagant superlatives wk.ch have jrranted her. an -unqualified standing wit* the four greatest- tragediennes of the world. ■Meantime her nromi*e, equally with her rnliilmenit. speak ■with; ko uncertain voice ota •b : o- dramatic.future:" Ih;*.digression by the vrav Not. less , interesting in -^™ C Wf, performance' was Mr; Kingston's " Scarpja. ■ Indeed, at time? his' -masterl,?. quiet alrno-t overehad-owsd that of the 'star. her=eli" scenes bstweeu the two. carry-in-7 the characterisation of the antithesis -of 'temperament, ■ were intensely interesting. Mr Kingston never e'ver-plays. and h's restraivt in this respect .made "Scarpia ' very, real His death sceaie wa'3 a daring strode,' which, k le«s powerful hands ™uM easily have been dorivbfal tmge'dy. Mr Planer (">T" hh best, perfo-marrce yet ;n .Uirist-Oh-urch as Mario C&rnrdoss;, whitefcthe remainder of the cast showed a ■noticeable evenness of general excellence. The -staging of " La Tosca " wos markedly good. ~ Miss -Nanc? O'Neil wiU begin the last six ir>h't" ol her *tav in Christchurch 'this evening, with the production of ■ ; GincomeibU s famcus historical play, "Elisabeth, Qusen of ■ Kwrtond." vrhen »• wilt appear as Tke ink-rpr.et.at.ion, has W recorded as her " most superb role. The piece is i*um<ntvtou*ly mounted a-ndi costumed. Miss O'Keil'e-dresses in nautacuna btfvfr described as mawels of richness and beauty. On Wednesday and Thursday, "cSlle" triU 'J«:-pl»yed; on Friday "Hertda Gabler"; and on Saturday, leg Woffington," which will close the season.