Theatre Royal.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 5692, 9 August 1886, Page 3

Theatre Royal.

"FAUST." A dramatised version o£ three acts of , Goethe's " Faust " has been announced for production to-morrow by Mr ilignold and , his company, with every attention having been paid to it, even to the minutest detail. The production comes to us already j advertised, one may say, from the very fact of Mr Henry Irving playing it at the Lyceum Theatre, London. Every English magazine and paper that has come to hand [ has contained accounts of the wonderful ( manaer in which this romantic and super- ! natural drama has been placed on the bo irda. The version of Goethe's great master- . piece is a remarkably good and effective one, and will be accompanied by Gounod's music throughout. The story is taken up at the point where Faust opens negotiations with the powers of darkness for a renewal of his youth, and a further acquaintance with life under the wing of Mephistopheles. Then follows the metamorphosis, and the brand new Faust roving through the

students, and soldiers' quarters of Witten- , berg. Thereupon follows the encounter with the frail Gretchen, the subsequent love passage in the garden, the united siege by the doctor and the devil, and the sardonic love passages between Mephistopheles and Dame Martha ; the violent scenes between Valentine and Faust, in which Valentine is killed, and ! dies denouncing the frailty of his sister, and, by way of epilogue to the three acts in which the drama is divided, the spectators are shown the ' apotheosis of Marguerite, which is a ; marvel of stage mechanism, and will be one of the prettiest sights that has ever probably been seen on the stage of this theatre. A band has been engaged to render the well-known military chorus and march. The dresses and appointments are from the well-known outlines by Moritz Retch. A full and efficient chorus have also been engaged, and no doubt the piece will be the pronounced success it deserves to be.