ENTERTAINMENTS

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2866, 2 September 1916, Page 3

ENTERTAINMENTS

—'+ i-'-"THE' BIRTH OP. A N'ATIOK." ' The wonderful kinematograph • production,: "The; Birth of a Nation/'- attracta; another, large audience in the Town Hall "< last evening.! The picture,. dealing with ' 'some :of ! the-most dramatic incidents Ol tho': great_ Civil War iu America, is extraordinarily realistic:. The-, producers /have not spared effort or expense at any ' , stage, and they have succeeded in evolving a film story of tremendous interest and power.' The battle' scenes are models . of i'vivid - dramatisation,. and ithey aro / ..followed worthily: by piottired ; incidents from the period following the wax, when, the. "struggle -between: North; and South 9 wascontinued: , in' social_ and political ; fields,' and the strange ICu, Klux lylnn • began its stormy His Excellency- the - Gorernorand.; the, Couiit&ss of : Liverpool attended the performance last ' .evening. Tho picture wiil l>e shown . azain to-night; . ■ 'A..special"matinee-performance, is to . , be.', given- this afternoon, -'commencing at ' 2 o'clock, when children, will be admitted ' ' toallparts of the hall, at half-prices : IJPEACE GOLDIX. A long queueawaited the opening of • the ; doors at the - Grand Opera House last: night—the best and the most convincing • evidence that, the fame o£ the magician Horace Goldin is noised abroad i'i : this place.. Golodiu. crowods a lot nto ". "his shoii".. He works'quickly. "One illusion' follows :.upon anotller-.so rapidly .that. the' onlookers, from' peing at first puzzled,: end hopelessly bewildered. One must watch this man very hard to see the wonder of the things lie docs, and no eye is quick enough to see how he does theni. His : big ieature is .' the illusion which lie. calls \"Tlie Tiger • ' God," in which, Goldiu uses '.a. real ;live full-grown Bengal tiger. , Tliis, beast lie causes ..'to vanish from-view. The ;popn-; . lar 'idea : about- .conjuring" is ". that every-' thing that disappears goes-up the-con-' 'juror's slebVer." : 'Goloflin Vibes* " i\ide' •.'. this tiger about, his person; Tho!. yaudevillo section of the programme is-good, the btet .tiini'. being the'somewhat'nervy' acrobatic work of""Monett aii'd Sidelli. To-day there will be a matinee and an evening show. W- HIS 'MAJESTY'S TDEATKIi. Big crowds are .the rule nightly at' His .< Majesty's Theatre -just .now, aud the artist who is mainly-responsible for the good box office. business, .is Miss Madge ' Alaitland, a versatile lady from America. Her inanners and methods are fresh, and v- -.her songs ' are good, likewise her jokes tin<K her: frocks. .. She is . an" attractive ptage personality, and a good pejformer. Mr. Burt Coleman, an American" sifflu<u - ,-. also provides, an amusing twenty minutes or so, and Bert La, Blaiic's revue party make jnu&ic and fun for an hour or more. Next week there will be, 110. revue at \llis Majesty's. The programme will for the first; time in fourtcon w«eks be vaude. .Title and militias eke. i .SPECIAL MATIXEE. The .usual Saturday' matinee"-at the King's Theatre to-day 'should be well attended, for -not. only ; wilt the'- iibir programme be shown for the first-time, but the winners of the recent"All Bed Koute" essay competition will'bo announced, and the prjzes l presented. In *dditiqn to tho Slargiierite Ckrk picture a special of 4uitablc, pictures will be screened. ; 1 , aiABGCBRITK CI.ABKsXT THE .v.' KI.XG'S. , • The opinion, of a great' man.v picturelovers aro divided as to\the : actress who holds pride of- place on ', today. but whoever the favourite may be,' Miss Jlarguerite Clarli'iipHls > pcr'mans,\ cot and; prominent: position ciiat eaniiot bo assailwl. Her personal charm, un-- ' doubted talent, an<l„ vorsatilitj' are safd to bo displayed to'reiiiarkable advantage in the Famous Players';coaptation of tho great American success, "Seven-Sisters," to be-screened, at ■ tho- King's Theatre - twice to-da-y/ anrt/ilescribcd as.a romantic story of Rumania, in which two young lovers are'faced with the national custom which.forbids a girl to marry until her elder sisters are married. Mici (Marguerite. Clark) is'the fourth of seven sistors. and liow slie circumvents the law is said .to niake a <lolightful picture, full. •of comedy and drama. Some excellent , supporting pictures include a fine series showing the It.A..M.C. at work at the front. . JiVERYBODY'iS TIIEATIvK. The new programme to be screened at Everybody's, commen'cing. at noon tCKlay, is headed by a .strong drama, "The "Waif." starring Mattcy iioubert. the wonderful boy iU:tor.V;The drama, which occupies fiv.c. reels-of film, shows, how a Now York btrcct urchin'proves his worth, and struggles against,adverse circumstances that would . severely try the endurance of any grown man. His adventures provide excellent material lor the camera, and in parts ..of the.picture an element of humour, is introduced that tones down the more pathetic portions of - the stoi-y. .- A feature of ■ the picture " ' is the remarkably good characterisation of the boyj Jlattey Itoiibert who takes the name part. Official war films actually takeu at the front, liaumont Graphic, and others provide a first-class programme. '■ 'v . EMPRESS THEATKE. The Empress Theatre will present this ! morning "The Fighting Chance,' dra. \ matised from tho book 'of that name, . written by the American -author, -Robert ' W. Chambers. The drama is to follow the novel with/ unerring fidelity. The plot .turns on a beautiful society girl, who marries a man who has inherit- \ cd the taint of' akoholisnV. She herself ' had the same taint, but won her battle against it, so she gives him a "fighting v : chance" of asserting his manhood and \ j winning her love. 'He strives nobly, to i i conquer tlife fecliug at first, without sucf cess, but the end sees him triumphant ..07crthe vice, with a woman's aid. The ' ; tense situations in this forceful filming • of a forceful book are brightened by. many i a, flash of humour. A strong programme i will be shown in conjunction with the I star feature. .

•THE SHAKESPEAREAN SEASON. The Shakespeare.au company who are to inaugurate a, seventeen nights season inastupendousproduction of the worlds greatest:! tragedy, "Hamlet/' at the (3 rand. Opera House, commencing; next Saturday night, intend.to 'present six of Shakespeare's works on-a highclass scale,-aiui at lower prices. than has ever been charged for Shakespearean New Zealand. For the leading roles Mr. Allan Wilkie and Aliss l ? rediswyde Hunter-Watts, both wpll-known English Shakespearean artists, wero'specially engaged. Mr. uilkio has been associated at various times with Sir Herbert Tree, Julia Herton, and. 1« red Tern\ He has appeared on soveral occasions; More the late King including a ,f comroand" performance, in which lie played the Karl of Northumberland in Itichard 11. Be. has the unique distinction of being ' commanded to give a performance oi "Othello at "the Gaiety Theatre, London. Miss I' redisivyde Hunter-Watts fcu. played, the leading 'roles in no fewer than eleven Snakesneare \plays, ranging from Kosalind to Lady Macbeth. Miss Huiiter-AVatts, who possesses a fine stage presence, is said to be an actress of great emotional power. The following programme has been arranged for the first six nights ot the season, Saturday, Monday, September' !>, 11, and 12, "Hamlet, September 13; 14, and-15,' and matinee oeptember 16, "Tho Merchant of Veiuc©. During the season "Twelfth "Borneo and Juliet," "As \ou Likg It* and "Othello" are to be presented, the productions will be staged in the same complete manner as in Melbourne and Sydney, where the scenic and other effects elicited -unstinted praise. A notable feature in connection, with these plays m 'iVew Zealand has been that the critics have been lavish in their praise i of the portrayals cf the leading roles by Mi. Wilkie and Miss Hunter-A\ atfcs, The box plans for -the three, of "Hamlet" and "The Merchant Trill open, at the Bristol next Thursday morning, at D o'clock. Special rates are to be niadd to colleges and schools. ' CONCERT. • The Wellington-Professional Orchestra will ffife its. sixth Sunday concert of the season to-morrow evening,at iHis 11aiesty's. ' . The,' programme, as usual, is well selected, and the orchestra should cive a good account of itself in Wagners "Rienzi" overture, and the "Unfinished Svmphonv" of Schubert. '.Other items] will .be ;the "Pique Dame" (jvcrture (Suppe), Leoncavallo's "Spanish Suite," the introduction to Act 111 "Lohengrin," aiiil -Matt's "Dawn" idyll. Mr. Herbert Blov will conducts. 1 A. 'silver, coin '.collection will be taken up at the doovs.