ANDERSON'S DRAMATIC COMPANY.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 12600, 2 March 1903, Page 5

ANDERSON'S DRAMATIC COMPANY.

0 "A LIFE'S REVENGE." 1 Certainly no patrons of melodrama can have f much to find fault with in tho way in which •• Mr Anderson is catering for their tastes dur- " ing his present season, and the popularity of 1 the company appears to suffer no diminution. There was a large attendance at tho Princess I Theatre on Saturday night, when the fourth ' new play of tho season was presented. This " is entitled "A Life's Revenge," a play with a 3 Russian colouring, and, as a performance, it ' is by no means the least meritorious staged l by tho company so far. In tho matter of sen- - aational incident oiid effective mounting- "A l Life's Revenge" lakes a high, place, and in its i story and its development, as well as in diai logue, there is more cleverness and a rather \ more wholesome atmosphere than in, say,- its j immediate predecessor at'thc Princess Theatre, s As indicated, the scene is laid in that land of incongruity, Russia, and therefore incongruix ties of incident are only to be expected. (This much can be said, that the plot is well defined and worked out in all seriousness, and with a by no means unsuccessful attempt at depict-' i ing Russian life and manners as accepted j mainly from tho story-book. Costume and , scenery in this respect are adequate, and the principal incongruity is that arising from tho ' introduction of the comedy elements. However, the business of such plays is to pass ' muster ns to probabilities, and to "take" with 1 the emotional and easily convinced, and subtle ■ analysis of them is out of the question, 'i'lie verdict on "A Life's Revenge" was that it was i unusually good of its class, and in parts it is ■ undeniably powerful. It appeared quite to t please tho audience. The story tells of a young artist, Paul Stanovitch, who is in love with a Princess Wanda (her family namo is too impossible). His affection is reciprocated, but Paul has incurred the hate of Miss Harcia Vittoria, a strong-minded lady, who, ■ going ' about in red robes as a rule, Sometimes gets the gentle appelation of " The Angel of Blood." Another enemy Paul incurs is Princo Strogo--1 roff, suitor for the hand of the Princess. The Prince visits Paul's studio and insults him— ho is struck down and flogged with his own knout. A life's revenge is his desire. Orloff, his serf-familiar, reveals to him that the 1 painter is his serf by birth, though ignorant of the fact. Stanovitch and the Princess are married in sccrct, and then comes the Prince ; and his myrmidons and tears Paul away to , a living slavery. The Prince has promised Orlolf his liberty and that of his son in return for tho revelation he had made. And in the denouement the Prince sees himself outwitted by his own serf, for Stanovitch is really Orloff's own son, and the father claims tho liberty of both, and by the oath the Prince has sworn there can be no refusal. So after atrocious suffering the artist is free once more, and the last act is taken up with the desperate efforts of the wicked Prince to make the Princess his wife or worse, and to compass the hero's destruction. It is satisfying to find that m the end his serfs rise up c-n masse and destroy the monster, and all ends happily. Paul's other enemy, the lady referred to, takes a . very prominent part in some of the more villainous schemes for revenge that abound, aud ultimately dies at the Prince's hands. It is she that conceives the delightful idea of roasting the heroine alive, and she quite acts up to her oivn accepted belief tlis\t " Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned." Mr H. Diver's representation of the Prince was quite as good ns his previous efforts in other paTts. The character was full of the latent fcrocity of the half-tamed beast, and was powerfully acted. Miss Helen Burdette, n3 the wicked lady of the play, acted quite *itp to the traditions of the "worst woman," and did specially powerful work in the scene where she tantalises the hero with a cup of water v/hen he is dying of thirst. Mr H. Piftmncr's acting as the hero left nothing to be desired, bring consistently manly. Miss Ida Graham's Pr ; ncos-, Wanda deserves commendation also, and was a trifle less thankless than her customary ro'c:.' Mr Stanford was happily cast as the wily Orloff, and Mr Walter Dalgleish made the most- of the part of Maurice Trevor, an Engl'shman. Some capital comedy wn-s supplied by Mr Hawthorne as a sort of kitchen appendage of humorous instincts, who rr-h'v impersonates Colonel Tunibi'off, a (i?ry ~ u «e:sn. with Mr George Chalmers as the real colonel, and some of the situations in which these two shared, were irresistibly funny. 'Miss Katie Towers and Mr G. Hnsscll -also have light comedy parts, in which they excel. Miss Josephine Tliynne and Mr E. Duggan take minor parts most creditably, and the remaining characters of the long cast are well sustained. The scenery is on the usual elaborate and excellent scale, "A Lite's Revenge" will be repeated this evening.