The Lorgnette.

Observer, Volume XXIX, Issue 44, 17 July 1909, Page 6

The Lorgnette.

By Prompter.

COMIXG SHOWS

July 26 to August 7 — Nellie Stewart Dramatic Company. August 24 to September 7— Allan Hamilton's Biograph Company. October 5 to October 16— Harry Ricfeards'a Vaudeville Company

THE revival of " In the Ranks " by tbe Allan Hamilton Company,

after an interval of some twentytwo years Bince its first presentation by George Rignold, once more reminds one that in construction all melodrama is very much the same melodrama. Even versatile G. R, Sims was unable to get away from the conventional materials which a hundred and one other melodramatists are serving up year after year, and embellishing with piquant supplementary sensations. But what Sims bas done in " In tbe Ranks " is employ bis materials in a thoroughly wholesome and human way. Hiß hero passes through the usual succession of wrongs and misunderstandings before the final clearing up, but he is always a robust, flesh and blood sort of- person, with nothing mawkish about him ; the heroine is an optimist of the first rank, through all her trials and misfortunes ; and even the villain, though he is as thoroughpaced a scoundrel as ever graced a stage, compels some admiration from the fact that he doesn't whine or preach cant, and, when he gets tbe worst of things, takes bis gruel like- a man. Altogether, "in the Ranks " is tbe kind of play to whicb no one need hesitate to take his maiden aunt.

It may be described as a rustic and military drama. Tbe setting is rural for three acts and military for two. As to the incidents, it is enough to say that Ned Drayton, the hero, is entangled in the mesh of circumstance from tbe moment when he is leaving church with a blushing bride on bis arm ; that he is arrested for alleged complicity in attempted murder of a foster-father whom he would have died rather than injure ; that his defeated rival in love makes things look black enough to get him a term of imprisonment ; that after his release from gaol he " takes the shilling," as the only means open to him of earning a livelihood ; that in barracks he suffers another period of tribulation through breaches of the regulations provoked by the goadings of the persistent enemy, but that the foster-father returns from his travels in time to confound the schemes and misrepresentations of the enemy, and to restore happiness to the persecuted husband and wife. The dialogue, though not brilliant, is yet brisk enough to carry the action of the play smartly along, and the incidents are exciting to a reasonable degree.

The company, without any extraordinary coruscations in histrionic ability, is well suited for the interpretation of robustious melodrama. Mr George Cross cuts a fine figure as the soldier hero, getting manly Bentiments oft a manly chest with admirable spirit, and in a general way stands out conspicuously in the cast. Upon Miss Ada Guildford, as the heroine, no severe demand is made, and she plays the part intelligently and brightly. Miss Rosemary Rees might make a good deal more than she does of the character of tbe heroine's sister. Mr Wilton Power paints in deep colours the character of the colonel's unscrupulous land steward, rival to the hero both in love and for the esteem of his guardian. Villainy is the role wbich comes most natural to Mr Power on the stage, and he seems to exude it from every pore. Mr F. Kenney is consistently food as the peppery colonel, he light relief is principally furnished «• ' "*A '

by Wilton Welch, as a yokel who 'lists with the hero and acts as his good angel ; and by Miss May Hesford, as the said yokel's warm-hearted mother. A consistent character study by Mr John Hesford as a sturdy old yeoman is tbe other notable feature in a lengthy cast. The mounting of the play is excellent. Two presentations of Dingley Wood, a very fine " cloth," and a set scene of the wood by moonlight, are worth a word of special mention.

Last night (Wednesday) but too late for notice in this issue, there was to be a change of bill to the highly fanciful and didactic " Message from Mars," whicb will run till Friday evening. Then will come, on Saturday night, a new romantic and sensational drama, by F. Thorpe Tracy and Ivan Berlin, entitled, " yueen of the Night."

The dramatize! version ot Mrs Henry Woods' " East Lynne " has, during its long career, been responsible for torrents of tears and hundreds of humid hankies. There is a certain section of the public — and apparently a pretty considerable section at that — whose idea of an evening's enjoyment seems to be weeping copious tears over the sorrows of the melodramatic heroine, and heaping anathema on the horrid head of the naughty, bad villain. For this class Messrs Geach and Marlow are at present catering liberally at the Opera House, and when the curtain rose on Saturday niy;ht there wasn't a vacant seat in the whole house. Furthermore, the audience, judging from the frequency of the applause and the constant application of handkerchiefs to tearful eyes, spent an evening of delirious enjoyment, and as the night's takings must have been considerable, presumably the management did likewise. And thus all things were lovely.

Of the plot it is not necessary to speak, as it is already known to most people. The cast, taking it all round, was a satisfactory one, although the company can only be classed as mediocre. Mr Robert Inman, as usual, took the leading male role — that of Archibald Carlyle — and sustained it creditably. The part of the unscrupulous Sir Francis Levison was in the safe hands of Mr Kenneth Hunter, who received the usual dole of anathemas from the virtuous and lachrymose audience. Mr Albert Lucas was seen as Lord Mount Severn, and Mr Thomas Curran made an adequate Richard Hare, the role of Justice Hare being taken by Mr Stanley Robinson. Comic relief was rendered in good style by Mr J. P. O'Neill, who sustained the part of Bullock, P.C. Miss Maud Appleton impersonated Lady Isabel, and, on the whole, gave satisfaction. Credit is due to Miss Ethel Buckley for a spirited rendering of the part of Afy Hallijohn, and Misses Leah Douglas, Pattie Gourlay, and Brenda Burt were seen as Barbara Hare, Cornelia Carlyle, and Joyce respectively. A word of praise must be bestowed on little Madge Rogers for her acting as Willie Carlyle. The scenery and staging were excellent, a special feature being the portrayal of the railway accident.

The members of the original "Englishman's Home " Company are now in Sydney, busy with rehearsals of " The Flag Lieutenant." To Julius Knight will fall the honour of introducing Dv Maurier's stirring play to playgoers in New Zealand, as it is included in his repertoire for his tour of the Dominion a little later on.

Edward Lauri and May Beatty are booked for juat on two years on the English vaudeville stage.

The Corrick Family, after a successful tour of England, are back in West Australia.

Mrs Harry P. Lyons, wife of one of the oldest theatrical agents on the road in Australasia, died in Melbourne the other day. Mrs Lyons was once well known on the boards. As a yoang ■; girl sbe played with G. V. Brooke, and later under the management of Wm. Hoskins and John L. Hall. She was a most genial woman, and was highly esteemed in private life.

Miss Nellie Stewart's successful Sydney season is now nearing its termination, for on the 20th instant she and her company are to sail for New Zeaiaad. The last few nights of the season in Sydney will be devoted to a production of "As You Like It." This will be Miss Stewart's first appearance as Rosalind.

Harry Shine, the one-time brilliant comedian, and the original scarecrow of the "Jack and Jill" pantomime, is seriously ill in St. Vincent's Hospital, Sydney.

Two vocalists engaged by J. and N. Tait for the Australasian concert tour of Miss Amy Castle 3 are Peter Dawson, a well-known basso, and Anderson Nicol, one of the most popular tenors associated with ballad concerts in Great Britain and Ireland. Mr Dawson went to Europe from Adelaide some years ago, and now ranks as a leading concert basso.

The Clarke- Meynell-Gunn " Cinderella "and "Hook of Holland" Company ire finishing their New Zealand tour at Wellington this week, cutting the South Island towns out of the programme. The reason given is that " Cinderella " must be produced in Sydney before the visit of the Oscar A°che Company, or it will be prevented frOm appearing there at all, for by the time the Asche season is over the contracts of some members of the Pantomime Company will have expired, and they will have returned to England. Un the other hand, it seems from the announcements in southern papers that Auckland and the North will not see the firm's English dramatic company. This organisation, which is playing " Lucky Durham " and " The Hypocrites," will work south from Wellington to Invercargill, returning then to Australia.

Few actresses can date back their ancestry on the stage as far as Miss Dorothy Grimston, the youngest daughter of Mr and Mrs Kendal, who has just arrived in Australia to take up an engagement with J. C. Williamson's "Flag Lieutenant" Company. Her great-great grandfather, James Robertson, was acting in London in the middle of the 18th century, and her great-grandfather, her grandfather, and, of course, her father and mother, were all prominent members of the theatrical profession. She herself is caarying on the family traditions very worthily, since she madb her debut in 1903 with the famous French actress Madame Rejane, at the Garrick Theatre, and has done some really first-class work, appearing in a round of plays by Pinero, Gilbert, andHaddon Chambers, with Arthur Bouchier, at Wyndham's and other London theatres. Then followed a long tour in America with Olga Nethersole, and another seasoa in London as Mrs Patrick Campbell's leading woman. Recently she has been under engagement to George Alexander for the part of Nina in Pinero's drama, " His House*in Order."

On bis tour in the East, Comedian Hugh Ward saw many strange things. " In the Malay theatres at Singapore," he says, " they take a Shakespearean story, present it in Malay, and introduce the latest English music-ball songs. Wben Hamlet is dying, Ophelia will come in and sing ' I'd Leave My Happy Home for You.' They play in modern costume, and they alter the ending of the piece to suit the taste of the audience. The audiences throw, not bouquets, but cigarettes to the performers, and you may see a chorusman, standing at the wings, grab one of these cigarettes with his bare feet and boss it into the middle of the stage, where he can pick it up afterwards. That pleases the ' gods.' I saw one Malay, who was impersonating King Lear, or some other tragic actor, and was supposed to be dead. A mosquito came and settled on his leg, and then the dead man's eye slowly moved ; there was a sudden smack, and the mosquito was as dead as King Lear, If such things were to happen in an Australian theatre, the gallery would probably offer a few remarks, but the audience on this occasion took absolutely no notioe."

George Lynch, one of the original members of the Ljnoh Family Bellringers, is very seriously ill in Melbourne.

George Musgrove has secured the Australian rights of " Toddles " and " The Fighting Chance," and will open in Melbourne in October with a London Company.

Miss Ada Reeve, it transpired in a recent court case in England, received £325 per week in Edinburgh.

Although the "Jack and Jill "production ia only half way towards the termination of its career, the attention of the J. C. Williamson staff (both in Sydney and Melbourne) is being already directed to the projected production of " Aladdin," which is to be the new Christmas attiaction under that management. Miss Jennie Brenan is devoting herself to the ballets ; Mr W. H. Coleman has already modelled some of the important scenes ; in Sydney Miss Emily Nathan has begun operations on the wardrobe, and Mr Gerard Coventry, away at the other end of the world, has been engaged in hunting up novelties and effects to enhance the general attractiveness of the new Christmas entertainment.

Clarke, Meynell and Gunn have taken the step of inviting the clergy to witness a performance of "The Hypocrites," a strongly dramatic comedy, which has been running some weeks to big business at the Melbourne Theatre Royal. This has been done with a view of taking the clerical opinion as to the morality of the play, a subject which has been somewhat hotly debated. Should the consensus of ecclesiastical opinion be against the play, the management state they will withdraw it. But, as one of the papers points out, such an appeal to Caesar would have had much greater weight if made at the beginning rather than in the middle of the run of the piece.

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