MR GEORGE WILLOUGHBY'S DRAMATIC COY.

Wanganui Chronicle, Issue 20050, 7 April 1914, Page 5

MR GEORGE WILLOUGHBY'S DRAMATIC COY.

"THE BEGGAR GIRL'S WEDDING. 5*

Theatre-gofers »a various parts of Ne\vj Zealand have welcomed the fact that Mr George Willoughby is extending the field iof his *>peraitdions, and tihat in future more or. his companies will be flitting across the theatrical horizon. M couple of -weeks ago, "YTanganui folk had the pleasure of seeing' one of his touring companies in pantomime. Lastt night at His Majesty's Theatre, one of his dramatic combinations was Been mi "The Beggar Girl's Wedding," and th£ present short season will conclude to-* ■ night with the intensely human play, "No Mother to Guide Her." The verjf ' large audience last night was greatly; impressed, the performance throughout being thoroughly enjoyed. .A big tax, was imposed on the staff at the back, there being no fewer than twelvescenes, but the company managed per* fectly, and the different acts with' th# miany different Scenes were produced with little or no delay. Everything. went off without a hitch. The plot centres round the life of a young man nam- • ed Jack Cunningham, who inherits his father's great fortune subject to hi» .marrying on or before his twenty-fifthj birthday. Leading a.free and easy life. "tEe young man lets tho years pass niw til the eve of his twenty-fifth birthday, V. rjvhen' ha is made to realise by the fam* ily solicitor that unless he marries on; . . the morrow he will become a pauper* He turns over a new leaf and leads at life of some use. In carrying out this resolution a starving girl comes into his life, and from this but until the1 end of the play some very interestiflg sit*uations develop, culminating in the triumpli of virtue and the" punishment of villainy. The plot is a complicated one, but received excellent treatment at the hands of the company. Miss Vera; Remee as the "Beggar Girl" gave a perfectly natural interpretation. Sh& found herself in many difficult situa* tions, but was able each time to acti with dramatic reality. "Jack Cunning* ham" was well placed in the hands of Mr George Cross, whilst Miss Oriel Hotson and Mr Rutland Beckett were most* ■■ successful in the roles of the villains. A' good deal of humour was introducecl by Mr Arthur Albert and Miss Fanny? Srris as "Dicky Storm" and his wife* They seldom looked at anything seriously and even if events did upset their almost perpetual joy, their grief -wast quite as iamusing as their humour. Mrf J Fred Kehoe ("Norman Marsh"), Mr D* Drayton (the family solicitor) and Miss. Gwendolyn Dorsie ("Elsie Cunningham") all gave most praise-worthy in* terpretations of the parts allotted tot thettn. ■ ' "NOMOTHEETOGUIDEHER." To-night the (company (will present "No Mother to "Guide Her." The play is one that should attract a very larg® audience. '■-.'"-