LONDON DAY BY DAY,

New Zealand Graphic, Volume VIII, Issue 49, 5 December 1891, Page 653

LONDON DAY BY DAY,

B 1

OVEKS of the high-class sensational drama throughout New Zealand have, during the ' past three months, been enjoying rare opportunities of gratifying their liking for this “ kind of entertainment in the performances of the company of Mr Bland Holt. Mr Holt has been in New Zealand before, and its inhabitants’ experience of him is that what-

ever line he adopts to follow he carries out thoroughly in every detail. It is probably many years since a theatrical combination more even in merit and consistent in its organisation has visited us, and even persons who may not have an especial partiality for sensationalism on the stage cannot fail to derive enjoyment from the contemplation of the excellent acting of the members of the company. In those characters of a pronouncedly humorous nature Mr Bland Holt is as conspicuous as ever, and the accomplished aid given him by his magnificent bull-dog, Beelzebub, may be reasonably included in the reckoning. No piece of acting could have been more convulsing in its effects than the little episode in ‘ Master and Man,’ where Beelzebub attaches himself to the nether extremities of the invading constable.

Mrs Bland Holt is equally good in her own line, always looking charming, and acting with a delightful al andon and refined diablerie wh’ch betokens the careful blending of art and native talent. With Mrs Holt is most fortunately

SIMS & PETTIT.

associated Miss Edith Blande, and these two ladies play up to each other in a manner such as to skilfully knit the performance into a marked consistency of excellence. In the pathetic situations Miss Edith Blande never fails to catch the sympathies of her audience. Among the other members of the company, it is almost invidious to particularise, each of them seeming to discharge the responsibilities of the part entrusted to them with so much care and completeness. Mr Walter Howe succeeds, even when delineating characters of the most unaniiable, not to say repellent type, in gaining the appreciation of the public. A special word of S raise is due to Mr Baker’s exposition of the character of Robert Carlton in * Master and Man,’ in which he looks and not only presents the appearance of a fine English squire to perfection, but admirably portrays the qualities of pride and phlegm peculiar to the English character. In some places, however, and especially in the drawing - scene with Hester Thcrnbury, the repulsive features of the character are unnecessarily accentuated, in deference, presumably, to the virtuous sensibilities of the pit. That Mr Baker’s representation was realistic, the universal groans with which he was greeted testified, but a villain would lose none of these by showing more gentleness towards his victim. Mr Albert Norman, shows remarkable versatility in the various characters he assumes, but the same may be said of others of his associates, there being a marked all round capability in the company’s composition. In the representation of the parts of

the elderly female order. Miss Flora Anstead is very successful, and little Mies Mabel Russell in boys’ parts has clearly the gift of winning the hearts of her audience. Space does not remain for us in which to enumerate in detail the merits of the other actois and actresses who go to complete the personnel of this excellent company, but it may be said once and for all that each suitably fulfils the duty prescribed. With respect to the staging of the thiee pieces of Mr Bland Holt’s repertoire, ‘ Master and Man,’ ‘ London Day by Day,’and * The Bells of Haselmere,’ it is in each case realistic and complete in the highest degree, and serves as a great change to the mise en scene with which Auckland audiences have been regaled for a considerable time. Our illustrations depicts various characters and situations out of Pettit v. Sims' drama, ‘ London Day by Day.’