ENTERTAINMENTS.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 664, 15 November 1909, Page 8

ENTERTAINMENTS.

'...-. ■••''A. LIFE'S EEVENGE.. . / "The Female Swindler" was played for the last time by the Anderson Dramatic Company int. the Opera House on Saturday evening. To- • night tho./company will leave the orthodox paths of melodrama and enter thd courts and castles of romantic drama, when they will be [called upon to portray the,different roles' in "Walter.'Melville's successful romantic play, "A Life's'.Revenge."' The story opens in a painter's- studio in "Moscow, where "The Bed .Angel," one of the! ladies of Tthe Court, falls fin love with•'the'-poor artist, but the painter's love is givta to'a young" princess. The princess returns'; the painter's love, but 7'The Eed Angol," hearing, that the painter' is a serf's 'Son, intrigues to, wreck the happiness of the i poor painter-and- the.Princess." The next scene opens in the palace gardens, 'Marischla. "The Eed Angel" denounces the'painter, and tells of-his- love' for the Princess. The painter is then sentenced' to the lash,, and the man chosen to;, administer the torture* .is tho • painters own father, who: is also a serf. This tragic scene .--ends in a duel with- foils between "The Eed 'Angel" and the Princess' in the, garden of the Palace. The third act shows the interior of the. Palace' Mari9chla, where an English- tourist intervenes on behalf of the painter,, and appeals -,to the Prince arid his court .to prevent a further knouting being inflicted on Abe serf. Here we have a' very fine scenes; where.the Englishman denounces the .Russian' despotism ; 'aM' compares it with British justice. In the last act we find the' Painter ( secure in the clutches- of "The Eed £ n S eI >" and the Princess a prisoner in the 'lied; Chamber. ■ The■ painter and his-Princess ■are sentenced to Siberia, and when.the Prince : comes to a hut on' the road to gloat over his ;victims, he is. stabbed ";to, death; by 'the serf father, who is one of the • guard. Papers are then produced' which prove the painter to be ■a Jree manj'TThe Eed Angel" is banished, andl the , poor and the Princess are , made happy. : This. being a, costume' play, Mr. : Anderson has sent over all the original costumes worn, in the successful Sydney and lUelbonraa productions.' The management promise a typei-of play; dressing, setting;, etc., quite, away from the conventional melodrama, ftn £* J ud ?in& by: the Melbourne and Sydney f-f s '™,, e . : man agement should be' assured ot its Wellington success.

/..;-THEATRE EOYAX; , .Some of. the, finest films' seen;- in Wellington_ for.nmny along day were shown .by Messrs. mJj '' r b?'T.- . ■'■ ™W8« : P?- programme ;--at..the 'Theatre .'Royal' on Saturday night. .'..-Pititrire'lovers know that it r .is'.usual to witness a good selection of films,.,but no one anticipated the splendid array -set,,before There fewer ' than'.'-five' really : "star"'' films,' consistiiig of "The Victim,"; "The Death of :Mozart,"'',"The:;Duke's! Jester,", "A .Royal Marriage.' in India," . arid'..,■• "Corichita 1 , the 'Spanish Girl.",' The, last-named picture unfolds, a thrilling story'of love and jealousy in Spain s passionate climes'. ■ The':lady becomes lenamoured of the successful .matador at 'a bull-fight, and sends him a note. The object of her affections is not in a reciprocal mo«d, and m the middle of awell-acttd scene, Con•chitas forsaken lover amVes, and the interview, terminates with tho girl's suicide. The chief attraction, however, was undonbtedly' ,The Death-of'Mozart," a most'pathetic pic-ture-illustrating a dramatio" episode in the : me composer. The film includes some of-the-,most magnificent scenes. Next in' im-: portance, "A; Royal Marriage in India, 1 " almost, baffles! description. This' film of-gorge-' ous,Eastern .life can -only be"appreciated by ;being seen.' "The-Victim" is a. powerful dramatio, study, depicting - the murder of a man by footpads,: the\discovery of the body by a .naif-sober individual,, who goes mad with, the fear 'of being regarded as -the cnniinal...'„ "The Duke's . Jester" 'goes back to early days, and gives, a :clear illustration of the time. when women ' were barborously treated. It, is ■■ a terribly ' dramatic picture: Airships _seem to be popular just.now, -and the showing, of the various flying machines at different rates and altitudes at the Rheims contest was. followed vrith the' closest interest. "Plundering the. Police", was the subject of an extremely humorous film, the audience considering the carrying off of tneir -own goods by'the snperintShdent of police' arid his wife, under the, revolvers of burglars,, a very, amusing spectacle.' Other pictures,run 'off were:— "The Flood," ,"Tho Limestone Industry" "How to Train a Ma-in-Law," The rcity of. Flowers," ."Manufacfaring Ropes," "Mrs. Clarke's Birthday,"., 'TVnen Jack Comes Home,";and "A Burglar in a Trunk." The programme will be repeated this evening.

. ■ - •:. : - HIS MAJESTY'S.. ";,. ; ' ;■ The picture entertainment at .His Majesty's Theatre has ■, been one of the attractions of, the! city, during'the past week, and : the programme has,stall a couple of evenings, to'run The matinee on Saturday was well attended, and.at night there was hardly standing room at eight o'olock. Some of the best pictures, which will be' showoi again' ■this evening, are:—"The Indian. Buhner's Romance," "By the King's : Command,"' "Nick Carter," and "In the Iron Kingdom;"'■■'... ■'.'. ->'. .: starvpictoees. The Star Pictures have recommenced at St Thomas's, Hall, :• Newtown, after' . a brief interruption' caused by prior booking of the hall. Residents of Wellington South', realising that : the Star. Pictures people give them a first-class 'entertainment at a .reduced, price, have extended liberal patronage. A complete ohange of programme will be submitted this evening, among the films,will be an industrial subject entitled: "Lloyds News": showing the, whole process of production. The films are varied and will suit the tastes of all. ... 'THEJXJLIDS KNIGHT 'SEASON. On Monday, next, at the Opera House, J. C. Williamson will inaugurate a sixteen - nights' season of 'romantic drama, with Mr. Juliua Knight, and Miss Beatrice Day in the : leading parts. The play selected for the' opening is 8.. M. Dix and'E; P. Sutherland's seventeenth century costume drama, "The Breed of The Treshams." This play has been more than favourably spoken of by loading Australian contemporaries. In it Mr. Knhjht will be seen for the first time here as Lieutenant Eeresby, otherwise known as "the Rat." It.is said/that nothing that this popular... actor . has done 'hitherto surpasses his 'impersonation of this complex and difficult part. A renegade soldier of fortune of the period of the Civil War in England, Eeresby—a ■ ne'er-do-well, spy and traitor to his cause—stands alone as one of the strongest parts very strong play that has been written for many years. During the season eight plays will be staged. "The Breed of the Treshams," "The Sacrament of Judas," and "Ah Englishman's Home" ■ will ; be seen for the first time here, whilst revivals will,be. given of "The Sign of the Cross," "Monsieur Beaucaire/' 'The Scarlet Pimpernel," and "A Royal Divorce." ; The company supporting ia said to 'be'lthe best and most complete that has ever been w}th, Mr; i Knight in New Zealand, arid numbers 'over seventy people, having as an important, adjunct a grand operatic chorus andicomptete, corps do ballot. The box plans wiMbe-'opened, for the entiro season at the Dresden on Thursday next.