THE TAYLOR-CARRINGTON COMPANY.

Otago Witness, Issue 2674, 14 June 1905, Page 61

THE TAYLOR-CARRINGTON COMPANY.

The Taylor-Carrington Company opened its Dunedin season in the Princess" Theatre on Monday with "Unjustly Sentenced," wiitten by Seva Elyarts. The attendance was a fairly numerous one, and frequently signified approval of the manner in which the dramawas placed before them. " Unjustly Sentenced " is highly spiced with romance and sensation, and in that respect leaves nothingto be desired. There is an abundance of treacherous villainy, which is strongly in evidence right through, and set" against this is the usual, lofty morality, honourable uprightness, -and nobility of character met with' in dramas of the class to which " Unjustly Sentenced " belongs. There is a murder in the first act, and an attack by bushrangers and an abduction in the third, and the drama throughout fairly bristles with deeds of intrepid daring and heroism, from which it may be easily conceived that the excitement is unabated from the rise to the fall of the curtain The centre figure is Will Haslewood, sentenced to penal servitude for a crime he never committed. He is assigned to Mr Jell, a well-to-do squatter, on the confines of New South Wales, and falls in love with Alice Jell whose sympathies are strongly enlisted in his favour. Pity is akin to love, and the tender passion develops very rapidly in this younglady a breast. But there is one Groves, a squatter in the locality, who is also Redjacket, the head of a notorious gang of bushrangers, and this individual occasions much trouble. Conceivirjg a passion for Miss Jell, he causes that young lady to be carried off, in spite of the heroic resistance of Hazlewood, who has returned to the homestead in disguise, after fleeing in consequence of having been wrongfully accused by Groves of' the murder of a man who holds proof of H?zlewood s innocence of the crime for which he has been transported. The youn°- lady is rescued with much gallantry by Hazlewood, who is impersonating the nephew of Mr Jell, expected froui England. Aitex the rescue the genuine nephew puts in an appearance, and Mailewood's real identity is disclosed by droves, and Hazlewood is kept in custody pending his removal to Sydney. While in custody he is visited by Groves, who urges him to make his escape, knowing- that if he attempts to do so he will inevitably be shot. Hazlewood has been warned of the plot, and on having firearms placed in his possession by Groves, turns on him, throws Groves' s coat aside, disclosing the red jacket, forces him to surrender the paper necessary to prove his (Hazlewood's) innocence, and escapes by the roof. What becomes of Groves, or Rcdjacket, is left to the imagination, but it is made qixile clear that Hazkwood avoids being shot, and is placet! in a position to clear his character. Mr Taylor sustained the part of Hazlewood with a very fair degree of success. He portrayed the de-jr-eted, broken-spirited, and -wrongly-sentenced convict with a good deal of ability. 'If any■thing was lacking, it was a little additional vigour in the more stirring parts of the drama, which a comparatively calm demeanour scarcely suited. Miss Carrington had no great demand made upon her in representing the amiable and charming daughter of Mr Jell. There was very little opportunity for any great display of talent, but where occasion arose Miss Carrington proved herself an actress of capability. In the dual capacity of Groves and Redjacket, Mr Lyons played with consistent evenness, and never lost sight of the nature of the character he was called upon to sustain ; and Mr Green's representation of Mr Jell was such as could not fail to merit approval. The English new chum of Mr Wallington ranked among the best-played parts in the drama, and m it Mr Wallmgton was most amusing. It was he, Mi- ITeepaii (a new chum Irishman'), and Miss Mm ton (an Irish servant) who supplied most of the humour of the evening, the Irish courtship of the two latter being irresistibly comical. Mr Arinitftsa. as. the aboriginal servant of Mr Jell, -was

also amusing in the small part he had to play, and the one little act of Mr Paget, one of Redjacket's gang, was well performed. The other characters, chiefly bushrangers, do not call for comment.