TO-NIGHT.

West Coast Times, Issue 13079, 5 January 1904, Page 2

TO-NIGHT.

"IN OLD MADRID."

The piece to be presented this evening is a very successful dramatisation by Misa Williamsun of Marion Crawford's fascinating novel "In the Palace of the King" entitled "In Old Madrid." The Grey Star speaking of a recent performance in that town says . — This really fine combination presented on Saturday night, "In Old Madrid," a dramatized version of F. Marion Crawford's ''In the^Palace of the King." A woi-d of praise is duo to the masterly manner in which Miss Williamsou has bandied the original novel, for without in any way destroying its spirit or detracting from its beauty or power, she has produced a drama consistent and striking, showing, moreover, that coherence of character and incident, which ia unfortunately so often lacking on the modern stage. Amid the wealth of material at her disposal Miss Williamson's difficulty was to a large extent one of s< lection, but even so, some of the finest touches are all her own. To convey, in woras, any adequate idea of the magnificent acting of thia talented woman sseoi well-nigh impossible. Suffice it ia to say that voice, gesture presence, all combined, to make her Donoa Dolores one of finest characters ever represented in Westporfc or on any New Zealand stage. Indeed Maud Williamson could hold her own on any stage in the world, for her exquisite grace of movement, the beauty of her voice— now thrilling with tenderness, now vibrating with passion — and abova all thai moral and intellectual insight, seen only in our greatest actors, unite to form % consistent, wtU rounded, and, truly net%

fe?t whole. Ab Don John of Australia, the warrior prince, Mr Woods excelled both bis previous efforts, if that indeed were possible. His thorough understanding of the true nobility- of the prince's character, of tbe depth and purity of his splendid powers of expression, rangiDg through the whole gamut of human emotion, showed him one of the masters of his art.

To-morrow evening — the final product' ion — The Gates of Bondage, a powerful dramatisation of Hall Gairne's masterpiece The Deemster, will be produced.