CANTERBURY CATHOLIC LITERARY SOCIETY.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XIII, Issue 2, 1 May 1885, Page 19

CANTERBURY CATHOLIC LITERARY SOCIETY.

Cbristchurch, April 18. The programme for the usual weekly meeting of the Literary Society on the evening of April 13, was designated a " musical " one, but- the greater part of the entertainment consisted of dramatic business, so the above title might be strictly termed a misnomer. The first part consisted of songs with musical accompaniments, a recitation and • farce. The lady singers were Misses Pender and Bourke, whose contributions on this occasion were marked by that good taste and excellent rendering for which those ladies are noted. Miss Geoghan's accompaniments and'piano eolo being?much admired. The items by the gentlemen were a comic song by Mr. Hennessy, a serio-comic recitation, -with a very tragic ending, by Mr. Begley, and ft song, " The Gallants of England," by Mr. Woodward, all of which were well received. A farce, in which two coloured gentlemen, Messrs Begley and Commins, and the landlord of a hotel, Mr. M'Gill were the characters, excited the risible faculties of the audience to a very great degree, especially as it was very well played. The second part commenced with vocal and instrumental selections by the forementioned ladies and gentlemen ; then " An Affair in a Skating Rink," which might be advantageously omitted, as the programme was lengthy enough without it, followed by a recitation by Miss Harrison, a youthful candidate for elocutionary honours, which was very good. The whole concluded with another farce, the chief characters in which were sustained by the gentlemen who took part in the previous ones, with the addition of Mr. Geoghan. This was not so succes&ful as the others, a fact which was due, no doubt, to a want of business in the piece and the too frequent recourse to the prompter. Notwithstanding all this, it must be admitted that the evening's, entertainment reflected great credit on those members of the Society, Messrs. M'Gill, Begley, Commins, Hennessy,- and Geoghan, who devoted much time and pains in the getting up of the whole performance.