PEINCESS THEATER.

Otago Witness, Issue 2651, 4 January 1905, Page 61

PEINCESS THEATER.

— ' ,'lTbe Face iAt -the. -Wihdow." The Andersorf Dxamatic Company presented * . a neyplayat the Princess Theatre on-Monday,' ■when " The Sailor's -Sweetheart" gave- ;place ~ to\" TiTe Eaceat the "Window," -which .proved" very- popular in Australia a short' 'tim« -ago.--There -was- a packediattendance'.incall^'parts -of .the house, and hundreds ..were turned away: before -8 o'clock} when the 1 - announcement/ so ' dejir -to the managerial heart, was :made thatthe house was full. "The Face at the Window"'' is a sensational detective story. It does not' ru'i along the ordinary lines of melodrama, but* 1 at the same time it is, a play of vast interest,.and is likely to prove as acceptable here as ,it di:l on the other -side,- The character-of -TPaul G-suffet. the detective, which Mr -Greorge Cross fills with the greatest credit, is powerfully" ' drawn, as also ib that of the r Chevalier Delgado (alias "Le- Loup"), an unprincipled schemer, ■who adds to "his villainous' characteristics and his s&tstruc expression of countenance by wear- , ing 4 suit of black, the cape of which is -lined •with vermillion; Mr. /Edmund 'Duggan'^ representation of Delgado lacks .nothing. ,His frequent, and necessary,- appearance on the" scene, leaves little opportunity' for amusement, but it affords ample scope for the study of 'highclass crime, and the audience evidently, accepted it in that light, -paying 3Jr Duggau the~ compliment of hooting him time after time, It : may be said that the whole play centres round the effort of the detective to run "Le Loup" to «arth. In private life the latter is the Chevalier Lucio "Delgado, who murders a wealthy banker, Henry de Brisson (Mr' Stirling" White), -whose daughter .he seeks to jnarry.Morie de Brisson (Miss Ada v <xuiltlford) has.however, already conferred her affections on' Lucien ' Cortier (Mr Godfrey Cass), » clerk, -whom her father had unjustly 'discharged from* his employment. Delgado :throws suspicion of thcrmurder on Lucien, but'the detective intervenes, and then the f battle between Gouffat ancT *CLe Loup" tsommences.~'The criminal's "method is to preface his horrible deeds by an -unearthly moaning sound—and the presentation of his face disguised, at the' window. Gouffet receives one 'of 'these -^sitations, -and -'succeeds' in inflicting »n. injury on hand i which thrusts » daggerthrotigh the -window. ' subsequently- adopts the" continuous' -use of gloves, and "Gouffet is -thug 'provided -with' a clue to Tub identity. The detective, in the guise of an .did -Apple woman, .^frustrates "Le Loup's" plan- of^ carrying Lucien bfi to the " Rogue's Retreat," and gains -entrance to that dangerous quarter by impersonating a -coiner who has escaped .from prison. "He there finds that Marie Se Brisson is held captive in an attic, and, as -might be expected, he fescues her, after an. exciting encounter with the whole den of criminals.- in which there .is a general, discharge of firearms, but no apparent . slaughter. 93ie --great -sensation is • the -scene on the T-oof. wherein Gonffet resists the attempt made on 'hi« life until -the police -arrive.- <l Le X«<rap" -gets .»w»y After all, and -murders tlie detective in his study just as -the latter is committing.his discoveries to writing. Afitting ending -to an exciting play is reached -when "the "Mad -Doctor" <Mr.Arthur Clark), by applying' an eleotric-battery io the " corpse," enables the - hand of the detective after death to complete M&ftt he intended' to -write prior to his demise. "?Le Loup" touches the body, and i& killed-by the eletric force. Miss Ada acted n&lttnlly in the trying part of Marie. Although; the tnain -features "-of 1 -the play are -of the sen--jaiioTHil order, a sfcrfce-of fun is introduced ? .by" the Tmmonrs of Peter Pajfctebury (Mr T. *P. O'Neill) and Babetfca J (Miss Maisie Maxwell)," the -housekeeper. r ~The scenic effects are excellent, and altoge-theitthe play iswell staged. I