ENTERTAINMENTS.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1158, 20 June 1911, Page 7

ENTERTAINMENTS.

"LUCKY DURHAM."

Wilson Barrett's play, "Lucky Durham," with its queer mixture of farcical comedy and serious problem, was played again last evening by the Anderson Dramatic Company. The play is one which compels an audience to think about one of the least pleasant of our social problems, and even when one expects a dramatic climax, the action turns to comedy pure and simple. A case iu point is where Lord Mountfallon and his family are about to be turned neck and crop out of the old castl'o by his gilded natural son, and everything indicates that a. &erious note is to be struck, when tho audience is sent into fits of laughter by Lady Mountfallon's ' wildly comical hysterics. The dramatist appeal's to have been obsessed hero and' there with the impression that he .was getting too serious, and that relief was wanted, and inserting comedy inopportunely goes /ar to destroy the effect tno play is intended to produce. The chief parts are most creditably acted by Miss Beatrice Day, Mr. H. R. Roberts, Mr. Kenneth Brampton, and Mr. Herbert Leigh, and are' well received by the audience. "Lucky Durham" will be produced again this evening.. THEATRE ROYAL. Fullers' Vaudeville Company maintained its average at the Theatre Royal last, night, when the weekly change of programme was made. The Tossing Testros do some excellent jugglery and balancing with a number,of articles, ranging from feather-weight felt hats to a Japanese rickshaw weighing 2001b. The Wetherleys appear in a musical melange calculated to please any audience. Carlton and Sutton, patter comedians and dancers, appear on each half of tho programme, and, at last night's performance, gained applause. One of the most popular items on the bill is that contributed by Miss Lucy Lavinia, a. dainty soubrette with a delightful voice, for her singing of "Kentucky" she was warmly encored, and her second number, "I Won't Be Back Till August," also elicited a recall. Miss Nellie' Power, character comedienne, continues to be a great favourite, and a.gain had to supply two song's last evening—"l'm Waiting, Waiting" and "Mary Took the Calves." "Little Willie," the dwarf comedian, made a decided hit with two songs and a .dance,-and. caused much amusement by his clever work on tho corner. Jos. Mullaney, who always sings a good class of comic song, was successful in "I Want to Go to Idaho," which was followed by a neat dance. E. I(-. Martin, the coloured basso, gavo a capital rendering of "Davy Jones's Locker," which earned for him a, hearty recall. Miss Delwyn ("Mother's Had a Row With Father') and Miss Annie Tye ("Waltz Me Down the-Alley, Harry") were factors in the success of the evening. Final appearances were made by the comedy duo, Kearns and lioslyn, George Sparkes, tho popular endman, and Miss Vera Kearns, serio. To-night the company will be strengthened by the reappearance of Miss Ettie Williams.and Mr. Geo..Jones, two artists who have just completed a successful season in Auckland. For to-morrow night is announced the reappearance of Harris and,. Vernon, the famous American dancers, whose tnrn is one of tho best qver seen in Wellington vaudeville.

' : HIS "MAJESTY'S THEATRE.' Few moro thrilling' tales iiavo ever been written than Charles Dickens's "Tale of Two Cities',"-and possibly there is no finer or more graphic pen pictures of Paris during the' days of the devolution than aro included in this fascinating story. It follows that such a dramatic tale could not but make splendid food for the kinematograph, which was proved last evening when an extremely fine picture (over BP,OOf : ty in-ilength), de-, tailing the chief incidents in the story, was. screened at His Majesty's Theatre. So .closely is the story followed that even those .who have never read "A Tale of .Two Cities" were able .to follow it without confusion or obscurity. It details the vile conduct of the Jlarcjiiis St. Evermond, the calling in ol' Dr. Manettc to tend the girl he has so shamefully treated, tmd the incarceration of Dr. Manett'o in tho Bastille. Eighteen years pass, and Lucy Jlanette' has grown into a beautiful girl under the loving care of Mr. Lorry, of Tellson's Bank. There is pictured her meeting with Charles Darnay, nephew of Evermond, and with. Sydney Carton, the dissolute young lawyer with the heart of gold. The blaze of tho devolution transfers tho characters to Paris, where Dr. ilanette has been released at last in the pulling down of-' the Bastille by the infuriated people. Darnay, whose sympathies have been with the people, is recognised as the nephew of one of :the most' hated of the aristocrats, and is thrown into prison t'o await the fatal attentions, of Jldlle. Guillotine. Carton, who has sworn friendship for. Lucly and Charles, finds means to enter'the prison, and offers to take Darnay's place. Charles cannot accept the sacrifice, but Carton, full of resource chloroforms Darnay, changes clothes with him. and has him taken away to safety, while Jio (Carton) goes gallantly to the guillotine to oirer up the greatest sacri- ? The story is beautifully acted.by the members of the Vil.iuraph Company, whose pictures are always well worth seeing. Other pictures of interest include a rollicking representation of that screaming comedy "Charley'* Aunt " a.comedy which made the whole worirt „ °. ver a decade fg". "Views of Pisa, is a fine scenic study, showing the famous leaning tower, one of the architectural wonders of the world.' The Patho Gazette includes some splendid aeronautical picture.*, and the Duke of Minna light being presented with tho Freedom of Glasgow. A benefit will be iriven this evening t'o the Tramways Football Club.

KING'S THEATRE. With two such pictures as Tree's fine production of ■Shakespeare's "Henry VIII" rwo iv } y photo-plav of " ■ D | ckens ,? tol T, "A Tale of Two Cities, shown the same evening, tlie programme at the King's Theatre must j be accounted one of the best ever Mih Bitted in Wellington sincf perma. pictures became a consideration with 1 amusement-loving people. "Henry VTII" ' is a picture, that should l )c ?c . ei f bv JH I playgoers, as it gives a capital idea 'of ihe stage. appearance and methods of London players heard of every day, and by all students oi Shakespeare, inasmuch as it represents most graphically the enormous advances which have been ma e, n I , ate ,y. ears , l 4 the presentation „f th° Hard of Avon s immortal work? '"A Tilo ?L T^ CUie f ,l S depicted by the Vitagraph Company. The story- is traversed very closely, and with a commendable attention to detail. The firct part deals with the villainy of the Marquis of Evermond, and the incarceration in the Bastille at his instance of Dr. Manette, and the second include Lucy Manette's love affair with Charles Darnav (the Marquis' nephew), the arrest of the latter as an aristocrat in Vans in the days of the revolution, and finally Sydney Carton's great sacrifice in substituting himself for Darnay whilst the tumbrils are even on their wav to convey the latter to the guillotine. "The presentation of such pictures should inculcate a taste for good literature. Other pictures arc: "Glimpses of Burmce Life," "Longlegs* Misfortune," "Arresting . the Thief," "Tidying 'up Paris," and the Pathe Gazetto (which takes in intorestiu" happenings in England and tlio Continent). Special mention should be niado of the excellent music provided for tho "Henry VIII" picture, including tho lively .Morris Dance, Boccherini's Minuet, and a stately march, all in keeping with the scenes enacted. SKATI.N'G RINK. The advent, of dark evenings and colder weather is bringing increased i.nmbers ol .patron* of the winter pastime and amusement.—rinking—to Fullers' ' popular resort. Not only is the rink enjoyable for the actual "rinkers," but it is also attractive for the onlookers, and every evening large numbers watch the grace and ease of the expert and the nifties of the novice. Another of the yeries of popular hockey matches will be played to-morrow evening—the Hutt v. . Olympia. .