KATHERINE GREY IN "THE THIRD DEGREE."

Oamaru Mail, Volume XXXIX, Issue 10719, 18 March 1911, Page 1

KATHERINE GREY IN "THE THIRD DEGREE."

There was an unusually large demand for scats at the Dresden this morning when the box plans were opened for the first and only production here 011 Tuesday night next by Mr J. C. Williamson's K.atherine Grev Company of "The Third Degree." The success enjoyed by this piece in Australia and New Zealand has been unprecedented in theatrical history, and everywhere it has been staged it has created a profound sensation. It is_ said to be the greatest of Charles Klein's dramatic works, but its remarkable success can be put down to a great extent to the brilliant performance of Miss Kathorinc Grey in the role of Mrs Howard Jeffries, Jtinr. Of her performance of this character a critic recently wrote:—''lt is in the more powerful scenes that Miss Grey excels, whilst in her emotional moments the; audience find themselves choking with sudden —emotion. This actress immediately places herself in the hearts of tlio.se in front. She lias a personality that skips the footlights, an temperamental force that makes her claims undeniable. Her voice falters and breaks, she sobs and after that there is a bond of sympathy between her and those who watch and listen which cannot be loosened. That magnetic force which comparatively * few actresses possess is possessed bv Miss Grey Tll a very full measure, and her portrayal of this powerful role stamps her as a dramatic and emotional actress of genius.'' Even as regards her voice, deep and eloquent, she is str.'ingely gifted. The fact that it is generally admitted that Miss Grey's performance of the character of Mrs Howard Jefl'ies is superior to her Shirley Kossmore has created an extraordinary amount of interest in the production of "The Third Degree." Mr AVillTam Desmond, who appeared so successfully as John Burkett Kyder in "The i-iioii and the Mouse," will take the role of Richard Brewster, the lawyer, a character which gives the brilliant young American actor special opportunities for the display of his splendid histrionic abilities, and Mr Cyril Mackay has a particularly arduous character to portray in young Howard Jeffries. The scenery and mounting, it is said, is of a very lavish description, and the dresses are a feature of this production.