KING ARTHUR.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 5211, 19 March 1895, Page 2

KING ARTHUR.

The arrangement in blank (eomo'imos very blank) veree of tiie legend of " Kiag Arthur," which Mr Cotnyna Carr has written for the Lyceum, is exactly cuited to that theatre, and blended with Bnrne Jones's scenery Rnd costumes, Sullivanesque music, and the picturesque . acting of Forbes Robertson and Ellen Terry, makeß up a Bplendid spectacular succesp. Apart, however, from these adjuncts, and played on a provincial or colonial Btage by an average troupe of biumtnere, I am afraid it wouid prove but a dreary entertainment. The piece is divided into a prolrgue and four acts. In the prologue (says the "Keferee"), which pastea btside the Magic More, Arthur receives the great brand Esc« calibur from the Spirit of the Lake. Tim ia Mr living's ecene, and there waa a thunder of applause when tho curtain fell. When it rosri again King Arthur was no longer pressing the blade to his lipp, but stood with The sword 1 defiantly aloft. There are many such : stirring tableaux in the course cf tbe play. I Indeed, it ia so contrived that caoh act ends with a striking picture. " The Holy Grail " is the subject of the first of the four acts of the play, and the scene is laid in the Great Hall at Camelot. The i Knights of the Table Bound are preparing to start in quest of the Holy Grail, and the moment of their departure is ill timed, for there are rumours of conspiracy against; the KiDg, concerning whom it has been prophesied that "He whoso hand should strike at Arthur's heart, Ou May-day must bi boi.'n." Tho lalter condition has been fulfilled by Mordred, who ia already in* triguing with bia mother, Morgan Le Fay, to accomplish the fiist. The peerless Lancelot designs to join the quest, and we get a momentary .-cngawtipn of "The *groali and guilty love he bare the Queen," if we muy be excused once more for quoting Tennyson, " Jn battle with the lovohe bare his lord." but afrer this Lancelot is turned frcm his purpose by the Queen, urged to it by Arthur. It is possible that the author intends these scenes as an excuse for the cruel deceit they practise, but in their subsequent ccn<iuct there is no eign of regret for their despicable treachery to Arthur. The arrival of Elaine, newiy come from A&tolab to crave an audience of the Queen, doea not help that forlorn maid ea in her love ior L-mcelotj and when Guinevere questions him, she learns of his guilty passion, and thu Queen confesses to her love for him. Afier that, the sage Merlin— who has a provoking way of speaking in short rhymed couplets — whoa he is asked by the King to decide whether Lance' t shall go or stay, thus makeß reply :— Fate doth answer Yea or Nay, Love snail bid him go or stay; Love the best, or love the worst, " Holiest love, or love accurst. But King Arthur is' for plainer Bperch, and when the knights file out at the end of the act they go without Lancelot. "The Queen's Maying," which forms the matter of tho next act, simply shows how the love of Lancelot and Guinevere progresses, though the reader, of course, need not be under any apprehension that the author has taken from Malory the wicked adventure which, if we are not mistaken, comes under this heading in the old work. The scere of the third act is a vaulted chamber opening on the river, where the | Knights of the Round Tablo are dis- ', cussing the evidence of the conspiracy against the King, of which no sign has yet reached the guileless and confiding Arthur. Here Mordred reveals himself for the villain he ie, nnd defies Lancelot to betray him to the King : — I dare thy worst ! Yet breathe one ■word and I will tell a tale Shall make tliec cower like a beaten hound. Pretty language this to address to ihe proudest knight of them all ! But Mordred has Lancelot, to use a homely phrase, undor his thumb, for the traitor,"as Mr Carr poetically puts it, has Been the brave knight and the Queen, " lip to lip, cuddling beneath the May." The scandal ia revealed to Arthur when the body of Elaine, who died of love, is brought in on a bier with a letter ia her haad addressed to Guinevere, and an exciting scene between Arthur and Lancelot is interrupted by the Queen, who, makiDg a full confession, falls, humiliated, at bis feet, and lie? theve prone till the news is brought of the rising against the King, when he goes off at the head of his knights to fight. In the last act, the Queen is in prison at Camelot and in an interview with Dagonet, who tells her of a grave he has seen, she philosophises concerning life in a Boaring speech that may be quoted as an example of Mr Carr at his best. Thus Guinevere :— I'll tell thee then, This grave I thick was Guinevere's, who died The hour when she was born; and these two Queens, Who through the night keep watch baside her tomb, Are but her shadows fashioned for the masque Which men call life; poor puppets that must dance While unseen fingers touch the trembling strings But whence the music comes, from Heaven or Hell, There's none shall tay till all life's lamps burn out, And Death stands forth to claim the harper's fee. . Prom the prison the scene changes to the Great Hall of Camelot, and Guinevere stands before the throne on which Mordred now Bit?. She ig charged with the death of Arthur, and condemned to the stake unless Borne champion will do ; battle for her cause. It ia Arthur, not ; dead yet, who takes up the challenge, and , meets his death at Mordrcd's hands in single combat. This is but one of Mr Carr'a new ideas, for Mcrdred and LanceLot, too, find their end, Lancelot dying, we f are told, as he struck the other down ; 3 whilst Guinevere arrives on the scene just I in time to recognise the King and to pro- 1 olaim, " He's gone, the ligb.t of all the ' world liea dead!" Then the stage i darkens, and at the back a beautiful vision { 1

is seen of the wounded King, in the black barge, attended by tho three queens, sailing away to the sweet ik'le of Avalon. Of the scenery, costumes and iout 1 ensemble it would be impossible to speak too highly. Even at the Lyceum W9 have* never witnessed finer etago pictures, or experienced a subtler sense of mystic romanticism. Tfc is, I know, treason to say so, but Mr Irving was not an altogether ideal king. He looked grand enough for anything in his coal-black armour, waving Excalibur aloft, but his mannerisms (especially that weary drawl), were Badly out of place amidst such surroundings. On the other hand Mr Forbes Bobertson, who might have stepped straight from a i Burne Jones' picture, gave us a fair j Lancelot to dream about. Here was a i veritable hero of romance, noble, virile, • forceful, chivalrous and goodly to look on •and lißtej^to. "No worder Guinevere , \ fell," said the new woman, "to be j true to such an Arthur with such a , Lancelot knocking around, was more than [ could reasonably be expected of her." ! Ellen Terry has never looked lovelier or more queenly than, as Guinevere, and Bach oppoitunities as tho part gave her she • ruado the most of. But one fancies the guilty f Queen must have been more of a medifeval t Mrß Tanqueray. Miss Genevieve "Ward . was just suited as the vengeful " Morgan I le Fay," and Mr Frank Cooper played Sir Mordred admirably. All the minor parts . had, of course, eminently capable repre- „ | sentativeß, and the stage management as , { usual is unrivalled.