"OUR BOYS" AT THE MASONIC HALL.

Oamaru Mail, Volume I, Issue 148, 11 October 1876, Page 2

"OUR BOYS" AT THE MASONIC HALL.

The reputation wliich the Lingards have acquired in Byron's comedy of " Our Boys " drew a full house to witness its first presentation at the Masonic Hall last night. Indeed,, so great was the rush for tickets, that, during the afternoon, almost all the front seats were secured, and those who trusted for places when the doors were opened found themselves at a decided disadvantage. " Our Boys " is a comedy entirely new to the Colonies, and owes its introduction to the Lingards, who have not only gained laurels for themselves wherever it has been produced, but have been the means of almost immortalising the name of its author as a successful iriaywright. Like the late Mr. Robertson, Byron has taken as the groundwork of his comedy, materials and characters to be met with in every-day life at the present time, and no doubt the immense success which has greeted his work has been owing to its extreme naturalness. "Caste," "Society," "School," "M.P.," and others of Robertson's plays, possess the charm that those who witness their representations see life as it really is, behold jriiases wh ich they are thoroughly conversant, and meet with characters which are daily seen off the stage. Following in his wake, Byron has given little rein to his imagination, and reality takes the place of the ideal. When one sees Mr. Perkyn Middlewick, it requires no great stretch of imagination to associate the retired butterman with some successful tradesman of our own acquaintance ; and Talbot Champneys is a specimen of the youthful aristrocrat with which few are unacquainted. Although the play had necessarily to be somewhat curtailed, and a few of the characters eliminated, such judicious care was exhibited that no portion of the plot suffered in the operation, and to say that the presentation was by far the greatest success that has ever been placed before an Oamaru audience, is but to re-echo the universal verdict of every one present. The author, no doubt, intended that Perkyn Middlewick and Mary Melrose should be the principal characters, and. as a consequence, they were personated by Mr. and Mrs. Lingard respectively. To say that they have so thoroughly identified themselves with those characters as to make them exclusively their own, is only to repeat what has been asserted by the Press of the Colonies ; but while ad-

mitting that fact, and giving Mr. Lingard the credit to which he is justly entitled, to our mind, the personation of Talbot Champneys is one far more difficult to successfully master. In old Middlewick's mouth the author has put such 'quaint sayings, and placed him in such ludicrous situations, in addition to his grotesque make-up, that the path to the risible faculties of the audience is pretty well cleared. With the lover of Mary Melrose, however, matters are entirely different, and it is but just to Mr. Graham to say that whilepicturingthe semi-imbecile scion of the house of Champneys with a truthfulness which fully bore . out the author's idea, the line of demarcation was never overstepped. Without for one moment wishing to detract from the credit due to Mr. Lingard, it must? be conceded that Mr. Graham's Talbot Champneys, at times, bid fair to be considered the character of the piece, and was beyond all praise. It was not acting; it was reality, and until we see that gentleman in a different character, we. will hold to that conviction. Although Mr. Douglas had not much scope as young Middlewick, yet he acquitted himself in a most creditable manner, and considering that the role of Sir Geoffrey Champneys is a little out of the line of Mr. Burford, his delineation of the character was fairly successful. We trust we will be pardoned for leaving mention of the ladies to the last. Of Miss ColvUle it is not necessary to speak, save to say that she appeared to be last night, as she always is, a favorite with the audience, and the kindly greeting she received when she first came upon the stage, proved that she has lost nothing of her popularity by her absence. Both Mary and Violet Melrose are so interwoven in the incidents of the piece, that they seldom appear on the stage but in company, and consequently the praises attributable to each should be equally divided. In the scene, however, where Mary forces a confession of love and proposal of marriage from her hesitating adorer, hernaivetewas bewitchinglyirresistible, and fairly convulsed the audience. The modus operandi of bringing matters to a successful climax was excessively comical, and might prove an advantageous lesson to the fair sex on similar occasions. To Miss Hetti'e Howard and Miss Laurence were allotted the characters of Miss Champneys and Belinda,/ both of which were fairly represented/ Taken altogether, " Our Boys " has been by far the most successful of any dramatic performance witnessed in this town; and there are few who could not with pleasure sit out a second representation, so that we have little doubt that. the hall will again be crowded this evening. We are given to understand from an advertisement elsewhere that the season will be extended to four nights, and that to-morrow and the following evenings complete changes of programme will be presented. Before concluding, we might be permitted to point out a want that was very visibly felt during the evening. We allude to the absence of programmes. We believe, however, this was due to the late hour at which the Company arrived in town, a defect which no doubt will be remedied this evening.