"MY PARTNER."

Otago Daily Times, Issue 7654, 30 August 1886, Page 3

"MY PARTNER."

Bartley Campbell's drama "My Partner" is not new to Dunedin playgoers, but it has never received such a complete representation here as was the case on Saturday evening. The piece aims successfully at depicting the rude life led hy the men who peopled the Californian gulches in the early gold-seeking days, and it has the strong motive necessary to give vitality to a play of this class." This motive is the devoted loyalty, the exalted heroism of a man whose speech is well-nigh as simple as his garb., but whose high sense of honour, wbo^e faith tn his friend and to the woman he loves is worthy a Bayard. As a play, the principal drawback to "My Partner" is that the climax is reached at tho ond of the second act. The two subsequent acts contain further developments of the story, but the supreme point of interest has been passed. It is in the first act that Joe Saunders makes his halting and yet fervent declaration of love to Mary Brandon, and listens amazed to her passionate outbreak of despair and her piteous cry " Do you think I am a pure, good woman ?" It is in this act also that Joe, revolver iv hand, confronts his dear friend and partner, and bids him swear " as sure as there is a pod in heaven " that the girl shall be his wife within three days. A very five scene is this, and so also is the parting scene between the partners, in tha next act. Then follows the murder of Singleton and Joe Saunders' return and pathetic effort at reconciliation with the corpse of his old friend. This is, of course, the great passage of the play, the discovery by Joe that it is Singleton's dead body leaning face downwards upon the table—the dead body of the man be had left alive and well a few minutes back. Mr Rignold showed flue artistip instict in his playing of this scene (as ho did, in fact, throughout the piece), and his despair at the catastrophe, although less melodramatically effective than Mr Leake's one great cry, was a good deal more natural. The two succeeding acts, in which Joe Saunders, in peril of a murderer's death, protects^ with hia own name the woman whom his dead friend had wronged, are by no means devoid of interest, and contain some good passages of comedy, but the strength of the play is nevertheless spent. Joa Saunders, too, at the moment of hia acquittal falls from his lofty heroism, and is base enough, to hurl the discomfited wretch Venables among a howling mob* clamourihg and thirsting for bis blood—an act revolting enough in itself, a*irl absolutely irreconcilable with the character of such a hero asdpartley Campbell has tried to draw. It is difficult to speak too highly of the manner in which Mr Rignold divested himself of bis own individuality iii playing this part. His quiet acting and his rather heavy speech were full of small shades of meaning that showed the character had been made the subject of the most complete and careful study, extending to the minutesjt detail. Such thorough work as this csin never go unrecognised. Miss Bishop, whose part as Mary Brandon was of course au emotional-not to say a lachrymose-one, also entered into her task with her usual thoroughness; and Mrs Rignold, an accomplished actress j whom everybody wai glad to see again, gave some really charming little bits of comedy as Posie Pentland. Another excellently played character was the Major Brett by Mr Sweeney, consistent and full'of humour; while Mr Tolano made up into an admirable stage Chmaman, and caused roars of laughter hy his actmg. The audience were, in fact, just in the vein for this kind of thing. They were essentially a coniedy audience, and Ranted to laugh very badly indeed. Mr Hamhro played Ned Singleton very satisfactorily, but the most aristocratic goldrainer in California (Wild never have had !' store " clothgs quite pa resplendent and picturesque as those affected hy Mr Hambro. Mr Isaacson, as Venables, made as saturnine a villain as one could wish to see, and he played with considerable realififl ffl the murder scene, V[i: Yjnge*~,t,as Sam Bowler,was unfortunately sorely in need of the prompter in one of his scenes, but otherwise did well, and Misses Claudius, Anderson, and Langueville; and Messrs Hazlitt and Marsh filled small parts. Mr Oa'tiieart's pprfnrffla,nc-* pf tftp. Qhl man part was, as usual, admirable if we except tho pronounced mannerism of the actor. A couple of beautiful sets were used iv the first and second acts. "My Partner " will be repeated to-night.

-r-Tbe Queen of Spain has given tho sword of the late King Alfonso to the royal Escort Horse Guards of Madrid, having had inscribed on it, " Guard the sword of him you guarded in life,"