"SUNDAY"

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 2986, 25 January 1917, Page 6

"SUNDAY"

ROYAL DRAMATIC COMPANY "Sunday," a' comedy drama in four! acts by "Thomas Raccward." Cast-;—' Colonol Brintliorpo and Arthur Brlnthorpe Mr. Behold Riley Tom Oxley Mr. Colville Dunn; Towzer Mr. C. W. Throsby. Davy ...a... Mr. Fred Coape ', Lively Mr. Gerald Harcourt Jacky Mr. Geo. Hewlett Abbott Mr. Reg Collins Mrs. Naresby Miss- Beatrice Esmond! A Nun Miss Mildred Carlton Sunday Miss Madge Surtees. "Sunday," a comedy-drama that wa» popularised by the Williamson Companyheaded by Miss Tittcl Bruno about twelve years ago, was quite successfully revived by tho Royal Dramatic Company at the Grand Opera Houss last evening before a large audience. "Sunday" is the work of three intelligent actors, who accompanied tho latot Mr. Wilson* Barrett to New Zealand many years* ago, and tho pseudonym; taken embraces syllables of the "name* of _ the gentlemen concerned. Their united wits accounted for a comedydrama that rather cleverly "hit O.ff' .- and at tho same time brought together extremes-in the social scale, thorough;, stern, clean-hearted "forty-niners" of Silver Creek, who nourish and cherisli Sunday when she is left a fatherless?baby in tho rugged Western mining camp, and the suave and polished repre-. sentatives of a fine old English family* which eventually robs "the boys" of their sunny charge. In the light of. modern invention in play-writing, "Sunday" may appear a trifle stagey' and "built-up" here and there, bufcy thero is no questioning tho depth of its human appeal. Its heart interest is abundantly out-reaching and that it worked upon thfj emotions of many present last evening was a nice tribute to the sincerity of the players. Many will remember Towser, Jacky, Davy, and old Lively, of; . Silver Creek, as old friends; they may 1 -, remember Lively's joko on 'Dowser's birthday, and can scarcely fail to recollect how he, in collusion with Towser and Davy, try to cure Jacky oE incurable heart-ache by studying up the. medicine hook. The dramatic connection between the old world and the'new is forged by Arthur Brinthorpe's dishonourable approaches,- which ara' ended once for all by Jacky's gum. Then fate decides that Sunday shall be discovered by an aunt, who takes her, to England, and there she meets and falls in love with tho brother of the man Jacky killed. Sunday revels ia the sunshine of love revealed for a brief space, then decides that she cannot marry him with the bogey of his brother's death between them, so she goes west to the boys again, and Colonel Brinthorpe follows, to hear the truth, and to learn that Jacky's judgment was sound, if sudden, and that after all Sunday is too precious to part with over a brother who had besmirch* ed the family 'scutcheon, and been fatse to the family motto, so all emfe happily, except for poor Jocky, whose l hurt no balm can salve. While the performance does not dis-; turb the memory of the original, it); was distinctly interesting and capable;. Miss Madge Surtees, who has a winning manner, and can _call up * certain exuberant emotionalism by jia-. tural methods, made an attractive Sunday. She is the type of girl that the pure, clean winds of the Rockies would be likely to produce, and she carried a whiff of mountain air into the Brin/ thorpe domains, where Cupid goes sh shooting. Miss Surtees is "homey" in her scenes with the boys, and held the .situation in good style where Colonel Brinthorpe re-appears in search of- a' wife. Miss Beatrice Esmond was adririraoly suited as Mrs. Naresby, which' she played with grace and authority, 1 and Miss Mildred Carfton was "&s sweetly sad as a young nun should be. Mr. Ronald Riley doubled the parts ofl Colonel and Arthur Brinthorpe, a fanw ily evidently troubled with stiff neck* His acting was smooth and polished* The quiet ease and naturalness cf Mr* Colville Dunn as Tom Oxley were .virtues impossible to overlook. Good character sketches were presented by; Mr. Fred Coape as Davy, Mr. Oj Throsby as Towser, and Mr. George* Hewlett as Jacky, and Mr. GenrSt Harcourt caught the frailty and humour of old Lively to' a nicety. "Sundayj? is well produced, and Mr. orchestra was quite enjoyable. Percy Taylor, an employee of the Petone Borough. Council, was attempt-i ing to board a moving vehicle on Tuesday at the entrance to the Hutt Park, when he-slipped, falling on the road in front of the Petone municipal motorbus. Fortunately the wheels missed him, but he was struck by the step, and his collar-bone was broken. The Hamburg-Amerika Steamship; Line owns 193 steamers, with an aggregate capacity of 1,135,000 tons, and among them are the three biggest? liners in the world —tho Bismarck (56,000 tons), the Imperator. (51,969), and the Vaterland (54,282). .The Nord-Deutscher Lloyd Line of Bremen has 138 vessels,-with a total of 721,000 tons. These are the biggest steamship companies in the world, the nearest approach to them being the BritishIndia Line, with 149 steamers of 670,000 tons in the aggregate. The two German companies lent a number of their large steamers to tho Government of the Fatherland, and a goodlyj proportion of these, which were equipped as auxiliary cruisers, havo been sent to tho bottom by tho British Navy. The great majority of their vessels, however, are safely in port, either at home or in neutral countries, for despite the pretence of surprise that Englaud should havo entered the war, the commanders of such of ■ the big German liners as were at sea early in August, 1914, were warned'to turn in their tracks and rush for harbour immediately Germany decided to embark' on her great enterprise of world conquest. Since .that date these vessels have been engaged in the very unprofitable occupation of "eating their heads off."