ANDERSON'S DRAMATIC COMPANY.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 12602, 4 March 1903, Page 6

ANDERSON'S DRAMATIC COMPANY.

"DANGEROUS WOMEN." The Anderson Dramatic Company submitted st changc of bill last night, ami staged a powerful four-act drama from tlio pea of F. A. Scudnmore, braving the suggestivo title of "Dangerous Women." The play, liko thoso which have prcccdod it, is one in which tho sensational element is very much in evidence, and is of a nature which leaves it open to argument whether it serves any particular moral purpose or merely panders to a craving for an unhealthy form of excitement. Doubtless it would serve to warn a susceptible young man from yielding unresistingly to tho charms of £irens such as the author of this play has portrayed in unusually vivid colours; but, curiously enough, the young man of tho present day dors not pay a great deal of heed to any warnings save those begotten of experience, and it is very questionable whether any good purpose is served by flaunting seductive forms of vice in his faco in tho hope that he will bo repelled from it. The play opens with a. scene displaying the interior of the Elysium Clubotherwise the private residence of one of the " dangerous " women who are the subjects of discussion. A roulette table, ready for its coterio of gamesters, is tho principal object of altoation, and the audience has not long to wail till-Cow, Fay, tho proprietress, in a flamecoloured frock (sufficiently decollete to reveal an unexceptionable pair of shoulders), is ready to act as croupier. In the interim, however, opportunity has been. given to make the acquaintance of tho distressed heroine, who has left her father (Colonel Ttotlnvell) in India, and by some remarkable concatenation of circumstances is left stranded and at the mercy of Mts (or Miss) Fay. Tho latter being incidentally a jilted lover of tho heroine's father, at once decides to square the account ivilh the girl, and proceeds to pave tlio way for her to adopt the most ancient profession known,to till rex. Another character introduced almost simultaneously is a dishevelled youth, his manhood consumed by tho fever of gambling, and ready to close his career as one of the. enticing Cora's victims. ■ Tho roulette party is made up by Cora (who acts as banker), Roland Courtney (the hero of the plav), Sir Reggie Hopwood (who is to be Cora's instrument to bring about the heroine's moral undoing), and Lola Lasccllcs (Corn's understudy). The game proceeds very much to the profit of tile bank; and Courtney, having a, win, is looked on by the dishevelled youth as his mascotte, for that unhappy young man then proceeds to slake Bis all in one throw by backing the same number as Roland For tile purpose of tile play it is necessary that he shall Jose, and in the recriminations which follow _ lie is struck a fatal blow. Tlio police then enter, but th here is saved for the time being by Hit coroner's jury bringing in a verdict of heart disease! His father confessor, however, insists on penance, and condemns him—not to 13 months' bard 'labour, but to 12 months' toil as an unskilled labourer, during which time lie contracts not to mako any use of bis fortune. He then resorts to paperselling and crossing-sweoping, and falls in with one of tho most interesting characters of the play—Joo Perkins. Meanwhile tin heroins is having a pooi timo through the machinations of the two "dangerous" women alluded to. After escaping from their clutches sho wanders about in that forlorn condition which for stage purposes always ends up on London Bridge or the Thames Embankment with thoughts of self-destruction, approaching from tho middle distance to the foreground. Here the timely intervention of the disguised saves (ho nccossity /or a gallant, rescue in the middle of the stilly night by the light of an uncertain moon. From this the lady proceeds to further troubles, which end in her Tceaplure by O v ' T'.iv, now bent on marrying the return;. oncl Eothivell, who is offering large rev.-.i: the recovery of his daughter. The new v. . consist in her getting screwed down in a, o i ■ situate in a dismal vault, where a mad 4. ..• is trying to bring dead people to life, and tho latter fortunately unscrews the coffin containing the heroine. The struggle for life a,nd death which ensues between the girl and tha demented medico brings Courtney to the rescue at the psychological moment; but even then tho cup of sorrow is not full, for Courtney is arrested mi a charge of stealing the Jiothwcll silver plate, and the heroine is locked up in the mad doctor's private asylum. Eventually tbe "dangerous" women aro apprehended for tho theft of'the Rothwell diamonds, the priest relieves Courtney of his penance, and he then proves an acceptable son-in-law to the Colonel. Taking tho plav as a whole, it must be admitted that tho thrilling events which occur so frequently hang together with a coherence that ono could scarcely credit oil merely hearing ail outline of them. In point of staging the properties are very well managed, and there is a lavisliness of scenery that is worthy of a better piece. Coming to the principals, it must also be admitted that Miss Ida Grcsham, as tho enchantress Cora, does exceedingly good work, and presents a vision of sin in the character which must bo very closely akin to that which the author hkl in his mind when drawing it. Miss Josephine Thymic had a, much lighter part as Lola Lasccllcs, and made as convincing an adventuress as could be expected in a white muslin dress. Miss i Helen Burdette's Sylvia Rotlnvcll was a conscientious presentation of a particularly helpless heroine, who could not fail to enlisi the sympathies of a ready champion of the opiirosscd such as Courtney. In this part Mr Harry Plimmer was quite at homo, and, assisted by the hearty enthusiasm of the audience, gave a performance worthy of great praise. Mt Harry Diver as Dr Paul Dysart impersonated the insane specialist with a realism that sent a shiver through the house, and tho scene in tho vault was as gruesome as limelight on tho surroundings could make it. Miss Gladys deserves great credit for her Joo Perkins, and. with the assistance of Miss Kate Towors as Bcttv Basker and Mr George Chalmers as Elijah Smudge, provided the greater portion of the comedy clement which is esential as a foil to the more tregic situations iii the play. Minor parts were filled by Walter Dalgleish. Frank Hawthorne, C. R. Stanford, Walter Rivers, and , others. " Dangerous Women" will be repeated to-night. i