THIS PRINCESS THEATRE.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 8626, 16 October 1889, Page 2

THIS PRINCESS THEATRE.

" DORA" AND " THE BARRISTER.' 1 Mr Charles Warner achieved a great triumph last evening. "Hands Across the Sea" made way for " Dora," an adaptation by the late Charles Beadeot lord Tennyson's well-known idyll,and "The Barrister," a three-act comedy by Messrs George Manville Fenn ana J. H. Darnley. la these pieces MrWarner had the opportunity, of appearing on one. night in two quite dissimilar characters, each of which was, besideß, quite dissimilar from that pont» trajed by him. in "Hands Across the Eea." In " Dora," depth of pathos, and in " The Barrister " breadth of humour were admirably depicted—many of the audience being la the one case moved to tears, while the whole house was in the other caee con-vulsed-with laughter. 'Jhe contrast that was afforded by the impersonation of two such characters as Farmer Allan and Arthur Maxwell-was a striking one, and it was only a supreme artist who. could succeed, as Mr Warner did, in so fojeibte marking the contrast. There is no exaggeration ia the statement that was frequently to ba heard ia the theatre" that, without reference to the programme, a visitor would not believe it to be the same man who lepresented the characters mentioned. Those who. are acquainted with Tennyson's "Dora" will recollect it iB a simple story of bow Farmer Allan, an oldi man of imperious aad irascible temperament, turned, iiis son William out of doors for refusing tomarryDo:a, the farmer's brother's daughter; how " half Jo, love, half spite," William wood and wed a labourer's daughter, Mary Morison, and to them was born a. boy; how distresses came on William, and Dora,. storing what littlel she could save,' sent it them by' stealth, till at last upon William's death she went to< the widow and took the child to set him in hcruncle's eye that he might see the boy and " bless-, him for the sake of him that's gone;" how the oldi farmer regarded Dora's action as a trick got up between her and tha widow, and how, while taking; the boy, hs drove Dora from his doors for daring, to. slight his word and teach him his duty; how the: two women resolved not to leave the boy with his. grandfather, because he might be.taught hardness, and how on going to reclaim him they saw :—

" The boy set up betwixt his grandsire's knees, Who thrust him inVthe hollowa of his arm,

And clapped him on the hands and on the cheeJnj, Like one that loved him ;• and the lad stretoh'd out And babbled for the golden seal, that hung From Allan's watch j" ,

How the, widow, preferring her request to have her son returned to her, related thecircumstancea of her husband's death;.aud how tlie old man bunt in bods, reproaching himself for his conduct towards, his son, . . : ■ .. . .

" And all the man was broken with remorse, And allhiß love came back a hundredfold." l The adaptation adheres; except in a few parUuularß. to the story of the poem; the most coticea&e deviation being the introduction of a young fawQEc, Luke Bloomneld by name, who oourts Dora, wiply foeseveral years, and is at last made the instrument by which a reconciliation is brought about bstween thei old man and the rest of his relatives. Mr Warner's, impersonation of tlie chief role was a splendid effort. The dogmatical, suspicious, hot tempered, vindictive old man, who claimed to be always in the right, who regarded his will as law, who could not brook opposition, who cherished an unceasing resentment against those who dared to assert their will against his—in whom, under this haid exterior, there was yet a substratum of sweetness and light, a store of affection for such as: were capable of implicit obedience to him,—this old man had the different phases of his mamy-sided character admirably displayed by Mr Waraer. The wrath of FarmerAllan upon his being told of hio son's, marriage with MaryMorrißon, was depicted all the, more tellingly because of- the suppressed power of the actor, and the simple pathos of the concluding portion of the second act was irresistible. The curtain fell amid a hurricane of applause, and Mr Warner had again and again to bow his .acknowledgments. Miss Gracie Warner in the title role played naturally and gracefully, and Miss Constance Deorwyn gave a pleating representation of Mary Morrison. Mr Stewart's Luke Bloomfleld was a. manly imperionation, and it was besides a good, artistic sketch because there was no trace of resemblance between the manner of its portrayal and of the same performer's portrayal of the roue's part in the former production. Mr Seaton was a satisfactory William Allan, and the boy was represented by a ohild named Gertie Fraser. "The Barrister" formed a most agreeable afterpiece. It is comedy of the moat extravagant kind, constructed of the flimsiest of materials and yet boisterously funny. In the play of "Confusion"it may be recollected that by the unconscious exchange of a dog and a, baby endless, complications are produced, and the wildest amusement is caused by the efforts of • the characters to unravel the maze of disorder. In " The Barrister," the ' trouble ia caused by the exchange — again unconscious — of two bags between' a barrister and a lady. Arthur Maxwell, the barrister, being out late ona night, encounters a lady who has been robbed of her I purse, and ia without the wherewithal to get home. He gallantly comes to her rescue, procures a hansom for her, and drives with her in it to her doors. She obtains from him Mb card, and along with it takes in mistake his bag containing his brief for an important case in which he is to "lead" for tha first time. He returns home with her bag, which contains some articles of ladies' wearing apparelarticles, as she her6elf describes them, "of the. greatest importance to me." At breakfast next morning the barrister recalls to mind his experienceof the previous night, and ho bids the servant to tell the lady who will call that, he is not in-this in the knowledge that his wife mijiht return at any moment from a visit she had been making, and & the belief that his lady friend might ;a!l to thank him for the trouble to which he had been. It is, after giviog these instructions that he opens his bag-, and discovers the position he is 1 in—the truth, of; course, flashing upon him at onoe. Unluckily forhlm his servant does not know Mrs Maxwell, and it. is she who returns first, and is denied admittance— in itself a ground of suspicion in her mind, and tha suspicion of her husband's treachery becomes convict tion when the servant tells her that the barrister had left word that the lady was not to pay the half crown for the cab fare on the previous evening. The next arrival 1b a young lady, Helen Fayre, betrothed to Captain Arthur Walker, whose return is, expected immediately from India. The apartments in which the barrister is living really belong to. Arthur Wa'ker, and are surreptitiously let to Maxwell by the servant, who is thus the cause of much of the confusion. Helen Fayre brings with her a number of-presents for "Arthur," the surname being not mentioned, and fuel ia by these means added id the fire of Mrs Maxwell's wrath, her husband being of course again suspected. The barrister returns to, his apartment and finds a letter, dictated by Mtß Maxwell to Miss Fayre, and signed by the latter, accusing him of perfidy, and from this he supposes Helen Fayre to be the name of his unknown friend of the hansom cab iucident. Captain Walker arrives from India to be told by his fiance that he has insulted her by asiingher tobecome h'ra wife while he Is already married to another woman; and anotherlink in the chain of complications is caused by thfl fact that Miss Foster, the origin of all the trouble, is engaged to Major Drayton (the father of Mrs Maxwell), who, on hearing of the nocturnal adventure, refuses to believe that the meeting between the barrister ' and Miss Foster was other, than, intentional, and breaks off the mitch. It would be impossible to trace the further entanglement of matters — each fresh twist of the chain of circumstances beiug, if possible, moreamußing than the previous one, until it simultaneously dawns on Arthur Maxwell and Arthur Walker,, when theße two characteis are brought together* that there has been a mistake somewhere, and the. last act is devoted to the disentangling of the-maze,.. It is beyond our power, in the space at our disposal,, to notice in detail the respective impersonations; but it will suffice at this time to say that all entered thoroughly into the spirit of the thing, and that all, contributed their share to the general amusement. Mr Warner was particularly diverting, and bad.tbcaudienco in a perfect roar of laughter throughout the piece. The other characters were represented, by MiSBOJ Warner, Deorwyn, Clitherow, Leighford, and Kliofc, Messrs Stewart, Deering, Beaton, Stephenion, West, Hambro, and Phillips. Thehouse was a very large one, and we shall not be surprised to see the Princess crowded to-night, when, this excellent bill is repeated for the only time*