MARLOW'S DRAMATIC COMPANY.

Otago Witness, Issue 2934, 8 June 1910, Page 89

MARLOW'S DRAMATIC COMPANY.

"As Midnight Chimes." The repertoire of Mr George Marlow's Dramatic Company was further drawn upon on the Ist "As Midnight Chimes" being staged for the first time at His Majesty's Theatre in the presence of a large audience. Nobody should be better qualified than the popular dramatist to discourse on the old subject of what's in a name. " As Midnight Chimes" is not a striking illustration of close dramatic connection between plot and title, but the point is of no moment. The eleventh hour is important, and is useful for purposes of repentance, but the tragic interest of life would surely wane had it to dispense with that hour " o' night's black arch the keystone," the very witching time when churchyards yawn, and so forth. Certainly the most striking scent in " As Midnight Chimes" is that in which the villain, Luke Dezzard, after having, like Juliet, slumbered in his coffin for a considerable time under the influence of a potion, a ruse resorted to in order to esca'pe justice for his crimes, awakes in the family vault, to which he is certainly not entitled on his merits, to find it is the hour when " Hell breathes out contagion," and he cannot get out, not having the necessary key. After fluttering about for a space like Sterne's starling, only with a good deal more noise —thanks to the bad air in his throat and the visitation.of numerous spectres of those he has wronged,—he does get out. But, so far from being repentant, he makes another attempt by the , m administration of poison to remove one of the encumbrances' with 'which his path is beset, and, failing in this, drinks the draught himself, as preferable to the gallows. Thus th© poison is not wasted, and the audience is pleased to know that as deep-dyed a villain as ever faced the footlights is at last as dead as th© proverbial door-nail or a popular article of diet. For the rest, "As Midnight Chimes'" is a typical melodrama with what may -be described as an unusually thrilling plot, and through four acts and many scenes it furnishes sensation enough to hold an audience that loves this class of play pleasantly spellbound. The characters are not drawn from the higher classes, the hero being an honest young fisherman, but they liv© in a whirl of excitement. At the outset the comparative innocence of Smuggling provides . a foretaste of more spicy fare to come, and murder, abduction, suicide, and rampant villainy are quickly in fierce conflict with injured innocence, heroic subterfuge, miraculous escape, and all the other issues necessary to a completely constructed melodrama. . The play gees at a merry pace, and, like its predecessors, is well staged. It is somewhat a reflection on the methods of the police, but that ?s by the way. The warehouse scene in the third act furnishes a weird and striking picture of the environment suitable to dark deeds, the churchyard scene in the last act is impressively conceived and presented, and the fishing village scenes can be admired. The members of th© company furnish a very satisfactory cast. Mr Herbert Bentley, as again the hero, was agreeably unassuming and very natural, considering the circumstances, in his part. As Luke Dezzard, Mr Hillard Vox sustained the most onerous role in f.h© production, and presented a most convincing type of "villain, though he would be more effective if hie work were more subtle and betrayed less disposition towards stage rant. Mr P- V. Scully srave a aood character study as Ezra Gamble, a fisherman, and Miss Essie Clay appeared to advantage in the role of the heroine upon whom, it is. almost unnecessary to add, the villain has" cast his eye. Mr T. Curran's indefatigable efforts to provide amusement in the role of Pat Spavvin. a railway porter, met with their usual success, and were ably seconded by Miss Carbasse, who quite won the hearts of the audience as a very daintv French maid. Messrs P. Hunter and R. Gcode took the marts of police officials satisfactorily, and Mr T. E. Tilton gave all the requisite dc-gree of eccentric individuality to the character — decidedlv questionable—of a one-legged wharf chainman. Miss,-Lilian Booth appeared as Zamora, an Indian lady introduced no doubt by the author to add a touch of Oriental colour and mystery to the plot, and interested naturally in the secret potion motive. The play had an excellent reception, and kept the interest of the audience on the qui vive to the last. "East Lynne." Prolific authoress as Mrs Henry Wood 1 was it is fairly safe to say that to the present generation she is by none of her works so widely known as bv the novel the dramatic version of which has kept the stage for a surprising number of vears. Manv dramas come and go, but " East Lynne" still remains with us—a treasured standby to theatrical managers and. an interesting heirloom to a legion of playproers. When new melodramatic sensations pall the sentimental emotionalism of this evergreen production is fairly sure to prove a successful dramatic lure. It was not surprising, therefore, to see His Majesty's Theatre crowded to the uttermost limit of its capacity on the 3rd, despite _ numerous counter attractions, on the occasion of a revival of this well-known play by Mr George Marlow's Dramatic Company. The audience was indeed a spectacle to gladden the managerial heart, however much disposed to mourn over hundreds turned away. The merits of "East Lynne" as a drama need never be the subject of argument. Frequently billed as " the ladies' great emotional ■drama," it makes an appeal of a

wide and peculiar kind; Many peoy'e find plea-sure in having their feelings agreeably harrowed for aspace, and tragic ps.thos is the keynote of "East Lynne.'-' In construction and general quality the play ii above the level of those with which it is classed. The evening's production was creditable to the Marlow Company and eminently successful in holding the attention of the audience, the career of the unfortunate Lady Isabel Carlyle being followed with the keenest of sympathetic intoiest. The cast was a satisfactory one, the more prominent parts being taken by Mr Bentley as Archibald Carlyle, Mr Hillard Vox as Levison, Mr R. Goode as Richard Hare, Mr P. U. Scully as Lord Mountsevern, Miss Essie Clay as Lady Isabel, Miss Lilian Booth as Barbara, and Miss Nettie Bundle as Aunt Cornelia, the principals all making good use of their opportunities. Miss Lilian Aldridge as Little Willie, Miss Carbasse, Mr T. E. Tilton, and Mr T. Curran, also ably met the varied requirements of their parts, the humorous element of the piece being in good hands. Like its predecessors the play was capitally staged.