THEATRE ROYAL.

Timaru Herald, Volume XIIC, Issue 13636, 2 July 1908, Page 3

THEATRE ROYAL.

•■ IHE StAKLKT I'lMl'litM'L. It, would bB mli'ip.stillg In himv, if 1! w*>i« possible I" learn, just how it camo ahnul. iluif, tliu theatix'iriMis »f Tiinam, ,>iul many who seldom no to a theatre, determined U> ~ec ilip Julius Knight- (Join pain- in "The tsarlet Pimpernel." with Mich unanimity as to have the whole of 'ho dress circle and the whole of ihe stalls beforehand —a record booking for Tiinnru. Kxlra (-ems v<riv pl,i<xd ui !ha circle. These were booked too. Kven standing room might have been booked, if it. had been thought, of. Consequently many went to the theatre and were unable to get in. Whatever were the reasons for this popular prejudgment among them, oouniiess, were inemoiies 01 ah- ivnignt's previou.s appearances in Tiiliaru —-the x - esult of it was a eloxply packed liouse, and a readiness to be pleased that must have been of uo little assistance to the performers, if they had been in need of 11. lint in truth the performance from first to last, compelled pleasure in it. The story deals with that distressing phase of the French Revolution in which the victorious republican people were wreaking a. vengeance of blood upon the royalist aristocrats, when so many of the latter were making their way to England, and met with a friendly reception there; and the plot turns upon the work of an imaginary organisation of young Englishmen for assisting them across the Channel. These found their self-im-posed duty a glorious sport. They had to pursue it in secret, and were controlled by a, leader whose identity was well concealed. The combination of secrecy and success appealed to the Britisher's love of romantic, and the mysterious engineer of this " underground railway" was spoken of as "The Scarlet Pimpernel," this little wayside flower being the symbol of the organisation. While the time and immediate incidents are those of one of the Pimpernel's runs of contraband, the most important features of the play are based upon an' incident of older date, by which the leader of the baud had been given reason to believe that the wife he loved and admired, a French woman herself had basely betrayed an aristocratic family io the blood thirsty populace. This produced an estrangement, which both sought to hide by an assumption of gaiety of the extremeven in a society that affected gaiety, and when the -play opens the estranged pair are introduced in this frame of mind. As Sir Percy Blakeney Mr Julius Knight .was the perfection of devil-may-care, and Miss Ola Humphrey, as Lady Blakeney, .a brilliant and witty leader of society. The audience were introduced to. several interesting types of society of that age, including some of the rescued aristocrats. Then appeared on the scene a French envoy with an unpronounceable name, commissioned to put a stop to the Pimpernels' operations by discovering and capturing the leader, ana the Fates - utisieu him by giving 'him as a lever a blunder made by Lady Blakeney's brother, whom ohe loves dearly. In order to save her brother, she.is compelled to help the envoy to discover the Scarlet Pimpernel. To j some extent) she does help, andMfer womau's wit discovers him, fksfc in—the last man in the world she would have suspected of'-the-role—her husband. Then the love of the wife overcomes that of the sister, but she must save both. The principal characters are.the husband and wife and the\French envoy (Mr Victor). The latter is made to take himself too seriously, he seemed to be always out of place, save when he had to deal with the lady alone, and then hejshone as the polite but unscrupulous spy, and their several contests of wits ■ were always excellent. But the gems of the play were the dialogues between husband and w r ife. in one of these she pleads for a, renewal of confidence, and fails to win it. In another, a, splendid scene, she explains the' incident which had estranged them, bub he cannot yet admit his- satisfaction. Miss Humphrey," shone again in her' horror at her I husband's danger when she discovers that he is the object of the French's spy's machinations, and- her appeal to her husband's friend for help was a truly magnificent passage. Mr Knight was delightful as* the irrepressibly jolly dandy, the social mask he wore to hide the cool strong man, alert to all that-passed when joiliest or sleepiest—especially when the lugubrious looking envoy was about; and his by-play in hiding his real love for his wife when tried by her passionate appeals, displayed histrionic powers of the highest order. The cast was. ipo numerous to allow mention to be made of all, and all did well; The minor incidents associated with the principal events were splendidly managed, and of these a sfcatelv minuet iat a grand ball and scenes in a dirty French inn may be mentioned as samples of extremes. The latter' evoked One Of the pieasantest ripples of' laughter heard in the theatre for a long time, as the old crone of the inn lighted a cutty by the fire and began to smoke. The whole play was splendidly done, and the" curtain was rung up several times /or the applause that was accorded it.

A ROYAL DIVORCE. The great spectacular play "A Royal Uivorce" • will be staged to-night at ths Theatre Royal. The story of the royal divorce and the historical facts on which it is based follow closely the winding path which led Napoleon, front obscurity to greatness, from, greatness to the zenith of his conquests, and finally to the sad solitude alongside the sobbing surf on lonely St. Helena, The scenes of history arise before one as the drama proceede. Napoleon lovts .Josephine with a deep, strong devotion, but the mad longing for" fame, the insatiable demands of ambition sweep alongside his love,, and he separates from his wife. To strengthen the foundations, of his over-threatened Empire, he weds the Princess Marie Louise and parte from Josephine, shutting out as he thought for ever from his lile the love of his wife. The parting from Josephine is a scene bathed in ,the soft light of tenderness and unselfish sacrifice. The Empress whose life is wrapped up in that of Napoleon is called upon to give up what to her was dearer than life itself —the love and companionship of her husband. And for what? That he might wed another. In this scene the battle between the strongest of human passions is short, but fierce indeed. ■ Yet the 6acrifice is made, and as the dark days throw their shadow o'er the figure of Napoleon, he sees ever near him one gleam oi hope in the love of Josephine. Finally he stands broken-hearted on the deck of a British warship as lie hears of his banishment to St. Helena. Josephine pleads for the impossible—that she might accompany him, but as they part the curtain falls only to rise again on the final scene of all, that in which Napoleon, forsaken, banished, hopeless, stands on St. Helena and gazes with infinite sadness lar away over the ocean to his happy days spent with Josephine, scenee ever rising mockingly before him, scenes called up by the memories of the past. Some striking and magnificent tableaux are introduced including " The Retreat from Moscow,'' "The Battle of Waterloo" and " Alone on the Rock at Si. Helena."

KUBELIK. Th« overshadowing musical event is Kubelik's approaching visit to Timaru. The great violinist, is due to give one eon/■en- in the Theatre Royal on (Saturday next. If. is only a few years ago that, Lh won a European refutation fit a, concert in Vienna, and since then his position ax the worlds greatest violinist has been unchallenged. There have for the last three years been rumours that one or other Australian entrepreneurs had secured him as a star attraction, but lie is to make his appearance under the direc-

tion of\ Mr F.Buckingham,' an English concert manager, hitherto personally -.unknown to Australia. Kubelik has just concluded a highly successful, toui;'of Australia. The immense Town Hall of Sydney arid Melbourne on mora than one occasion were nob .large enough to hold the number p£ Iris admirers who wished to hear him,' and- hundreds had to be turned away disappointed. A .--writer. in the "New York Telegraph," describing the ' virtuoso's personal looks and de j meanour, says there is something of that which the;' Scotch ..would call "eerie' about liini. He seems young and oldyoung in the lithe figure, and unlined poetic face, and in his poise and. his mastery over the secrets of an intensely difficult, yet infinitely, responsive instrument. ''But as a violinist-, .pure and simple," says the same writer;' " the. essence of Kubelik is that he is human. He is perfectly intelligible, and strong as his appeal is, it is also wide and ganeral. Kubelik will be accompanied by his wife, the Countess Czaky Czell, a lady of remarkable beauty.' According to. American accounts, she devotes herself to the avoidance of discords in his attire, and correcting other oddities of dress that genius is prone to. The box plan of the reserved seats is now open at the Theatre Koyal s