HIS MAJESTY’S THEATRE.

Otago Witness, Issue 3018, 17 January 1912, Page 84

HIS MAJESTY’S THEATRE.

“ THE SPECKLED BAND ” Of certain murders Do Quincey wrote j that they were the eublimest and most entire in their excellence that ever were committed. In his Sherlock Holmes stones Sir I Arthur Conan Doyle, it must be admitted, ■ lias done much to keep alive the concGjy j tion of murder as one of the lino arte. His tale of - The Speckled Band ” is one of . the effective of a singularly successful j series, and its representation in dramatic | form,' that is to say, upon the stage, _ is | naturally something to be anticipated with j interest Such anticipation was realised at His Majesty’s Theatre on the 11th. It is , inevitable that in such a case the impression created by the play should be weighed against that conveyed by the tale as or *‘ ginaily absorbed by the reader. _ A drama presented under such conditions may transcend expectations, or it may fall short of them. Much depends on circumstances and on the mental attitude of the spectator. If “The Speckled Band” rather inclines in the latter direction, it remains to judge it upon its merits as a dramatic production, apart from all preconceptions. Regarded in this light, it undoubtedly stands out as a play of weird and striking character, strong in dramatic situations, and intensely interesting in the development of its original and gruesome plot. The precise dramatic methods employed may not lie always admired —admittedly, they tend to destroy some of that detachincut and romance which are the- most fascinating qualities of the figure of dherlock Holmes, and they do not leave, perhaps, as much to the imagination ag might bn desired —but from the standpoint of the not too imaginative general theatre audience, the play, as indicated, ought Iq bo found unusually impressive, mysterious, and exciting. The first act leveals the hall at Stoke place as the scene of a coroner’s inquest. The stepdaughter of the retired AngloIndian surgeon, Dr Rylott, has died mysteriously in the night, rushing screaming out of her bedroom, and expiring in the anna of her sister, Enid Stonor. The in quiry is admirably conducted from a stage point of view, and discloses tersely and interestingly the circumstances u[K)u which subsequent developments depend. A strong touch of humour —the only one of its kind in the play —is provided in the demeanour of the inquisitive Methodist juryman, Ai-rni- i tage, who insists upon putting awkward questions. Dr Rylott is revealed as a tyrant and something worse, and pathos is supplied in the figure of the girl Enid, whom at ono moment ho browbeats and at another cunningly cajoles, and particularly in that of the decrepit old butler Rodgei-s, whose fear of his master gives him a truly tragic aspect. A verdict of “Death from unknown causes ” is returned. The first scene of the seoond act takes the action a couple of years further ahead. Rylott hag benefited pecuniarily by the removal of one stepdaughter, and the time has come to accomplish his design of profiting similarly by the removal of the other. For that purpose ho lias allotted her the bedroom of Eis earlier victim, and in a dramatic close to the scone the method he has employed before and proposes to employ again is disclosed to the audience. The faithful Indian satellite, Ali, enters his master’s chamber with a jug of milk,. withdraws from a secret repository jn the wall a box which he places on the carpet, and what bears semblance to a curious rehearsal terminates when he squats on the

floor and chants on a melancholy flute, 'which is the signal for a deadly-looking speckled snake to emerge from its lurkingplace. The curtain falls on the demoniacal figure of Rylott, grotesquely capering about with the srinuous instrument of death rearing and coiling itself in the grasp of his gloved hands. The next scene introduces Sherlock Holmes in his room at t Baker street, in company with the sociable ;Dr Watson and the inevitable Billy. It jis here that Enid Stonor comes to seek I the detective's timely aid. Up to this I point there has been rather much talk and ' not a great deal of action. Hereafter happenings of a more dramatio kind follow quickly. Rylott visits Holmes, and warns him frantically not to interfere. In the third act Holmes is discovered at Stoke j Hall impersonating a new butler who has , been engaged. He has a dramatic five minutes with the master, in, which he manages to save the heroine from what appears possible extinction there and then. The climax is reached, however, in the final scene, which takes place in the fatal bedroom. Holmes and Dr Watson make their way into this sanctum in the dead of night, comfort the frightened girl, and prepare for the expected attack, the genius of the former somewhat obtrusively discovering the final clues and the source from which it is to come. When at the psychological moment the serpent appears through a concealed opening in the wall, and is about to descend the innocent-look-ing bell-rope to reach its sleeping victim, it is forced to beat a precipitate retreat. It returns to its master's room, whence frenzied shrieks are heard proceeding. Next moment Rylott rushes upon the soene with the snake enoiicling his neck, and falls prostrate on the floor in a paroxysm of agony. Dr Watson gets busy in a corner with a stick, after which he observes, " The brute is dead." "So is his master," says Sherlock Holmes. The play is finely staged, and the company which produces it under Mr J. (J. Williamson's auspices is an unquestionably strong combination. The outstanding figuro of the drama is that of Dr Rylott, and the impersonation of this part by Mr 'Gaston Mervale is every whit in keeping with its importance A more unpleasant character than that of Rylott could hardily be imagined, and Mr Mervale's acting realised finely its grotesque and practical characteristics. In hii hands the murderer became an impressive and fascinating figure, nor lacking an evil subtlety and particularly horrible in a Syengali-liko capacity for hatred and a maniacal abandon to the passion of the moment when restraint became no longer possible. The character of Sherlock Holmes is apt to suffer on the stage. It is not easy to realise altogether adequately in such an environment the author's own pen pioturo of ids popular creation. In the case of "The Speckled Band" the stage*-version !cnd3 no help in this respect. It reveals Holmes too much as a talker —as too commonplace a type. This particular Sherlock Holmes is confessedly somewhat amateurish beside the real one. As for Mr William Desmond, who takes thf> part, he is an admirable actor, and if his Sherlock Holmes is not the ideal one, being a more cheerful, bustliing, self-sufficient creature than the reflective, melancholy, attenuated, inscrutable bsing looked for, it is not his own robust personality that is altogether to blame on that account. Of the impersonation of Rodgors the butler by Mx J. B. Atholwood it is only possible to speak in terms of the highest praise. Nothing more finished or effective could be desired. As the heroine Miss Dorothy Dix had a part calling for no particular subtlety of treatment, and she thoroughly satisfied its requirements, which are mostly those demanded in the expression of fear and perplexity, besides presenting an attraefcivo and graceful stage appearance. A number of parts of minor importance were most capably treated —Miss Susie Vaughan as tho housekeeper, Mr Winter Hall as tho coroner, Mr Fred Cambourne- as the amusing Armifcagc, Mr Boyd Irwin as Dr Watson, Mr Deslic Victor as Ali the Indian valet, and Mr Roy Sea-ton as Billy all making oapital use of their opportunities. Tho strength of the company was further attested by the interesting character types presented "by Messrs G. P. Bryant, G. Chalmers, and T. W. Lloyd, as clients of Sherlock Holmes.