"GIGARETTE" ON SYDNEY THEATRES.

Otago Witness, Volume 25, Issue 2321, 25 August 1898, Page 47

"GIGARETTE" ON SYDNEY THEATRES.

BLAND HOLT IN THE COLONIAL METROPOLIS.

Are you fond of spectacular drama? If so, come with me to the Theatre Royal and see your old favourites, Mr and Mrs Bland Holt in " White Heather," which is nightly drawing immense audiences, notwithstanding the rival attraction of "Tho Little Minister at Her Majesty's (with the famous Pattie Brown as Lady Babbie) and various other entertainments at the other theatres. Wesre lucky to get a seat at all without booking, and if wo had not come early no doubt we should have had to stand, for although several excellent plays have preceded this one, there is no doubt that "The White Heather hits the popular taste, and has so far proved tho favourite. Look round at the audience. It is not such a smart one as you see at Her Majesty s, for prices are lower here, and many people do not don evening dress, but jnst drop in wearing their ordinary attire, many of the ladies keeping their hats on notwithstanding the appeal on tho various placards, put up in prominent places, requesting ladies to remove their hats. However, a hat covers a multitude of deficiencies in hair dreeing, and many women look far better with their heads covered, consequently are reluctant to appear without headgear in public. 1 remember one lady at a hotel at which 1 was staying who came down io breakfast with her hat on, and wore it all day, only remot ing it when she dressed for dinner at night. The overture is over, and the curtain goes up showing a splendid stretch of moorland i-cencry. in tho mid.it of which a shepherd with lval sheeo appears. They trot amiably about for a while, and then disappear in the wings. After those a party of sportsmen arrive, then the ladies and lunch, which is partaken of in hearty style amongst the heather. _ The sporting costumes of the ladies are exceedingly chic — in fact the dressing and staging of tho whole play is admirable. Bland Holt (a theatrical manager) causes a lot of fun by the way he handles a gun ; Mrs Bland all through tbo piece is exceedingly sprightly, and causes all the other female characters to sink into tho background by contrast. The plot of lhe play is founded on fact — the celebrated Langworthy ease — but as no doubt you will see it in Maoriland era long lam not going- to de-cribe it at length. Tho whole thing hinges on a '' Scotch ' marriage which tho villain of tho piece wish.H to repudiate, the record having gone down in tho yacht on which the ceremony was performed by tho captain. The child of the marriage is hoir to large e»tate3, but the father refuses to acknowledge him, wishing to contract another marriage with an heiress. This is the scaffolding on which the chief incidents of the pl'iy are hung, and never were grander spectacular effects hung on a lighter frame. There is a charming river scene, where a picnic party embark on a steam launch, which puffs and blows most realistically and appears to glido down the river, though really it is the scenery which recedes and gives the impression that the lunch is moving. Another unique scene is a view of the London Stock Exchange, which is represented by an excited crowd of men in silk hats rubbing about yelling', tearing up pajjer, and nopa«ionally masking notes with a pencil in a note book. One man gets up on a desk with a ha mm or, and declares the heroine's father insolvent, whereupon he drops dead of heart disease. Tableau !

Ono of tho funniest scenes is perhaps where Bland Holt conducts a dress rehearsal for a burlesque entitled " Lady Godiva," but this you must see for yourself to enjoy thoroughly. Then there is a view of Battersea Park anil cyclists of both sexes careering; round on Massey-Harris machines. One lady appears

I in cream-coloured rational dress, and very ' nice she looks in it too. Bland Holt himself wobbles round the park on an unmanageable machine, and meets with hairbreadth escapes, ending in a general smash-up, which is greeted with shrieks ot laughter from tha , "gods." By-and-bye a carriage and pair 1 drives up in grand style, and waits until the j heroine is ready to step in and drive away. j But the masterpiece of the whole play is j the diving scene. Here you see tho un- ; natural husband, intent on finding and de- ; stroying the record of his marriage, de- ; scending into the water at the spot where j his yacht was wrecked. The precious docu- , ment, for safety, was sealed up in a tin case, <■ and another man has made up his mind to ; recover it and save the heroine' d honour! , Number ':ne goes slowly down into the deep ! water, swaying about in the current among ', all ports of stra»<ja monsters which glide to i and fro. He finds the tin case, and is ready ] to be hauled up when number two appears. Then ensues a hideous, silent conflict under water, which the audience watch with breathless interest. At last the villainous husband succumbs, his air-tube being cut by his opponent, who seizes the precious case and is hauled up only to die of his wounds a few minutes afterwards. However, the record of the marriage is saved, and the heroine is triumphant, the audience more than satisfied. But " White 'Heather " is an cmbarraa dcs richesse, for there is another scene to follow v/liich in magnificence surpasses all that has gone before. This is a fancy dress ball at Shetland House, which forms the closing scene of the play. The dresses are superb. There are peasants and Turkish ladies, queens and kings and knights and squires tripping " the > light fantastic toe"; and last, but not least, there is Bland Holt, himself as Marcus Siroerbus "guyed." i But it is 11 o'clock, and time and ferry i boatswait for no man ; so we must fly ere tho ] curtain falls on all this grandeur, plunge into i the dark deserted Btreets which form the short; ' cut to Circular Quay, and, boarding our particular ferry, we glide out into the starlit night, and so — to sleep. Cigarette. New Music— " Stars and Stripes" is the title of "a grand naval and military diverfci- | mento descriptive of the American-Spanish war," for the pianoforte, by Henry Richards, ! published by Allan and Co., Collins street, Melbourne. The piece is descriptive of the , whole progress of the war in its various '■stages, from the first rumour in America, tha ' declaration, the departure of troops from • America and Spain respectively, and all the subsequent incidents of the contest. It is a most interesting souvenir of the period, and i has become very popular in the Australian ' colonies. Wo have no doubt it will be equally I so in New Zealand