THE GOURLAY AND STOKES COMPANY.

Thames Star, Volume XXVI, Issue 8107, 29 July 1895, Page 2

THE GOURLAY AND STOKES COMPANY.

" May's Cousin," with which this company opens at the Academy of Music on Thursday evening next* is thus described by the Auckland Herald :—" Last night at the Opera House there was a large attendance to witness the production for the first time in N.Z, of the farcical comedy 'May's Cousin,' a piece in many respects as entertaining as 'Charlie's Aunt.' Like the latter^ the chief fun centres round the male impersonator of a woman; like it, also, the result is exceedingly funny. '••■An elderly Indian Colonel, Sir Barnard Blusterly, arranges with an old brother officer, General Warleigh, that . their respective daughter and son should marry. The daughter, May Blusterly, and her friend, Nelly Vivash, find this out through reading a letter left lying about by Sir Barnard. They also find out that the intended bridegroom, Captain Warleigh, is coming to see the Colonel that day. Just then Lieutenant Bob Lightfoot (May's Cousin) drops in to borrow a woman's dress for some private theatricals. The girls promise to lend it to him if he will put it on. and impersonate May when a gentleman they are expecting arrives. Capt. Warleigh, when he does arrive, taking advantage of, the mistake of a deaf old housekeeper, pre»'

tends he is the piano-tuner, he wishing to see what his intended is like, without her knowing him. The fun then commences, and the side-splitting complications ari.^e. Unlike most farcical comedies, the second act is better than the first. Mr Wm. Gourlay, as Lieutenant Bob, could hardly have had a character more suited to him had it been written specially for him—he kept the house last night in roars; and thei'e was nothing extravagant, forced, or vulgar about his impersonation. It was a finished piece of acting. Miss Amy G-our-lay played up to him excellently, her assumption of the role of a housemaid cotild hardly have been better. The other parts were well taken, Miss Blanche Power being particularly good as the deaf old housekeeper. The piece was well put on the stage, and well furnished—things that cannot always be said. • May's Cousin' is really very funny, and should not be missed by anyone who likes a good laugh." , Mr Lindsay, the Gourlay and Stokes Company's advance manager, requests us to state that front seat season or family tickets in parcels of not less than six, which may be used collectively or otherwise at the purchaser's option, are for sale at Mr Burra's for ,£l, thus reducing the price of front seats, if taken wholesale to 3s 4d each.