THE JUNO COMPANY.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume IV, Issue 976, 22 June 1883, Page 2

THE JUNO COMPANY.

There was a marked improvement in the attendance at the Town Hall last evening as compared with that on the previous night, although the front seats were by no means crowded. The play given was “ Jeanie Deans,” a dramatisation of Scott’s celebrated work, “ The Heart of Midlothian.” As a literary work, the piece is not of a very high class, but if | the dialogue is somewhat stilted oppot-. tunities are given for the display of forcible and in some instances humorous acting, and these were taken advantage of by one or two of the performers. Miss Gloise Juno was of course the heroine, Jeanie Deans, but we should not think this is one of her best parts. In the scene with Robertson before the trial of Effie she showed power, and there was much pathos in her acting in the interviews with the Duke of Argyle and subsequently with the Qileen ; but- the humorous side of the character was imperfectly" I developed, Miss Juno’s style being rather too heavy to'do justice to this phase of the part. Her Majesty of the Scottish pronunciation was in marked contrast to that of some of her fellow actors. As Effie, Miss Greenless was successful in eliciting the ejmpathies of the audience in the ‘troubles of that much-tried maiden, and she acted throughout with considerable feeljng and intelligence. If Mrs McGowan’s Madge Wildfire was scarcely what readers of Scotch would imagine, the lady gave us an amusing and effective performance, which was thoroughly appreciated by the audience. Miss ; Leonard . was • tolerably successful as Margery, although she was made up too young, and Miss Featherstone did justice to the email part of the Queen; Of the gentlemen, Mr McGowan was easily the best, his acting as the Laird o’ Dumbiedykes being full of spontaneous humor, and when he was on the stage the laughter was continuous. Mr W. Marshall showed considerable power aaDavid Deane, the scene where he cursas his daughter (Effie) be ; ng perhaps his best effort. Mr Dillon as the outlaw (Robertson) was not very impressive, his voice being monotonous, and his action somewhat stiff- Mr E. ■B. Russell doubled the parts of Counsel for the Defence and the Duke of Argyll, in both of which he acted admirably. The speech at the trial was well delivered and called forth loud applause, while he invested the part of the Duke with becoming dignity. Mr Medus as the gaoler Ratcliffe was fairly good, albeit his costume was slightly eccentric, and Mr Aspinall was the mildest young Curate imaginab’e. A considerable latitude in regard to scenic effects had to be allowed, as the capabilities ot the Town Hall in this respect are decidedly limited. However, there was plenty of scope for the imagination, as a good deal of the actions took part in what was evidently a room, although the exigencies of the piece demanded that many of the scones should take place in the open air. The trial itself was more absurd than even the author had intended—and that is saying a good deal. At the ba ck of the stage was seated an elderly gentleman in a ponderous wig, and at the table were the two advocates, whi'e the jury were conspicuous by their' absence. These drawbacks notwithstanding, the play pleased the audience, who were lavish in their applause. “ East Lynne ” will be given to-night.