THEATRE ROYAL.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXIX, Issue 4292, 22 December 1874, Page 2

THEATRE ROYAL.

“ Queen Elizabeth ” was repeated last evening to a house which leaves no room for doubt as to the opinion entertained of Mr. and Mrs. Bates. The piece itself, excepting some < trifling faults alluded to yesterday, is a highly instructive one, neither overloaded with detail nor constructed so as to eliminate any events of note from the historic sequence. It is, as the title implies, designed to compress into small compass the life of the remarkable woman whose character Mrs. Bates has so closely studied. The second representation of the piece met with a reception which must have been regarded as highly complimentary by Mrs. Bates. Seldom has any actress in New Zealand by a single stroke attained to such a position of pre-eminence. The audience of last evening was not the most numerous that has been seen within the four walls of the theatre, but for enthusiasm it has not been equalled here. Mrs. Bates has won her way to public approval by sheer force of merit, a kind of merit, too, which is peculiarly her own. The character is one which developes the most diverse passions in human nature, and in all of these phases Mrs. Bates is to the manner born. Scarcely any character that can be called to remembrance makes such strong demands upon the capacity of the actress. It does not call specially for tragic power, for personal dignity, for pathos, for dissimulation, or for a high tone of acting. It demands all these qualifications, and Mrs. Bates has them ready to her hand. The character is so entirely mastered as to display a complete insight into the heart and mind of Elizabeth. The first representation conveys this impression : the second confirms it and leaves no doubt whatever of the faithfulness of the picture. Mrs. Bates gives her auditors no time to think ; she carries them with her. Her sympathies and her griefs become theirs, and reflection is lost in admiration of a woman who was as tricky and malignant as she was great. The sudden transition of tone and manner marked the finished touch of the artist throughout and made the rendition perfect in all respects. One might, for instance, contrast the scene where Elizabeth herself shrinks not from the duty of bearing the sword of Henry VIII. in defence of her country with that in which she avows her love for Essex and presents him with a ring. The one is a depiction of grandeur and nobility worthy of a woman of her race ; the other a confession, while “Love in her eye sits playing,” of the weakness which woman is heir to, no matter what her rank or station. The scenes form a contrast it is true, yet the dignity rf the character is no more lost sight of in the latter than in the former, and it 1 is in this power of preserving the characteristi cs of a strongminded woman, despite her unbending to the amorous passion, that 'Mrs. Bates excels. It is no wonder, then, that she was called before the curtain—not once but twice at the conclusion of some of the scenes, an honor which is rarely conferred. Mr. Bates improved upon his first appearance, and also won a unanimous call upon the conclusion of the scene where, in a writhing spirit of disappointment, he chides the Queen, and scorns his compatriots who reap all the laurels gained at the fall of Cadiz. The remaining characters were very creditably sustained by Mrs. Stoneham, Miss Stoneham, Mr. Burford, Mr. Hydes, Mr. Thorp, and Mr. Stoneham, all of whom were evidently painstaking in their endeavors to play up to the leading characters. The performance of last evening was originally intended to be the last of “ Queen Elizabeth,” but its popularity and the encouragement afforded to the management, have induced them to repeat it this evening. In one respect and one respect only could the surroundings be rendered more' entertaining, namely, by the substitution of a better orchestra. Probably this slight allusion to a palpable defect will produce a remedy. To-morrow evening, the company play “ Our American Cousin.”