DRAMATIC ENTERTAINMENT AT CLYDE.

Dunstan Times, Issue 598, 3 October 1873, Page 3

DR AMATIC ENTERTAINMENT AT CLYDE.

The largest assemblage we have ever known to take place within the Town Hall was that on Friday evenlast, the room being literally crammed— it is needless to say that (be cause of this unusual gathering was, to witness th performance of the Cromwell Dramatic Club, who, to th ir credit it said, at no little inconvenience and trouble lothemselves, cheerfully tendered their services and time, and undertook the journey to Clyde m the came of charity, the object being to augment the somewhat languishing funds of the Duustan Hi- trie t Hospital. At 8 o’clock sharp the Clyde Brass Bmd, wi hj very little of the time honored, but ear excruciating necessary preliminary tuning of instalments, commence- 1 , played a few airs «ith their customary taste and accuracy, and soon afterwards, the curtain, that concealed the stage, was drawn as.de, and the light comedy of “ Turn him out ” began. It would be onlv natural to suppose that, even if the performers were below mediocrity the pen of the critic, considering the surrounding circumstances, would lie, if not laudatory, sparing of anything approaching harshness or severity, but here, no such leniency is requisite, for even it adverse, no one in riiere justice could withold that praise and admiration which the Amateurs elicited and Iv-uianded, for seldom have we witnessed a better rend-ri ig of each allotted part, even when placed in the hands of professional actors. Mr. Fraer’s Nicodemns Nobbs, and Mr. U.ilciough’s Macintosh Moke were really finished pieces of act ng —the hitter’s n -tura! indignation at being thrust out of his own house, and that too by the very ruffian with whom ho suspected his wife to be too familiar was excellent in tbe extreme, while Nobs the vu'gir, Nobs the obtrusive, and Nobs the insolent, could not have I con better pourtrayed. Miss Kelly, as Susan the Maid, was at once natural and charming the other characters, though of a minor position well sustained the piece. Mr. Jolly as Eglantine Roseleaf, lookeii and acted the insufferable cuscotnb and dandy, the original cause of all tne mi-chief, and who yet managed to escape the results of his misdeeds until the last. After the c’ose of the last scone, the Band again favored the audience with a selection of their choicest pieces for about half an hour, when the stage was ag mi disclosed to the eager ga/a of those present, the comedy of the “ Lottery Ticket ” being the subject selected, and this was i equally, if not better rendered than <he | receding piece—sl r. Fraer’s “ Wormwood,” the clerk to “Capias,” the Village Lawyer, was so inlmirab'y pourtrayed that, in desprte of your knowledge that alter all it was only acting, one could not help detesting the character, and instusib y fel a tingling sensation at the point of your toe to be sati.-tiecl only by kicking him, he was such a .wretched looking hump backed disagiccaMu creature, del'ghiing only in creating mischief, souiim the seed of discord, and wit-i.e-sing the unhappiness and misery which he was at pains to implant in the Invasts if all around him—he was to the die the, low Attorney’s clerk of fifty or sixty years ago, which happily exists now- only in the pages of the Novelist especially in those of Dickens’ wot ks. Miss Murray, as Mrs. Corset, the elderly widow in the millinery business, was ext remedy felicitous in Imr p.rt, and evidently, although she had not very much to say, had bestowed considerable pains and attention in her acting an-.l get up. It it was obvious; as each passed in review before qy hat, no pains had been spared by any individual, while as a mere matter of memory, the prompter’s voice was nut heard throughout, which, for amateur acting, may be almost cited as unprecedented, It is to bo hoped that this (Tub will adhere together, fur after this display of tl le undoubted talent they possess, it would be more than a pity, if from any cause they should disperse, as \v<may yet experie ce such another evening, as at their hands we and the public of Clyde so thoroughly en--Kvul Mr. James Hurley, between the pieces, d.ew down the house by a characteristic song ai d dance, and was encored raptuiously. Upon the conclusion of the pi'i-lorinanee, Mr W. L. Ssmpson returned thanks to the Club, which was responded to by 51 r. Fraer, and then, aftera short interval, dancing commenced, which lasted until—we cannot say personally—but until that hour, when the voice of the shrill chanticleer is generally heard—all we know i,s that, the members of the Ulyde Bnss Band on the following day were sevoinl stones lighter in weight from their protiacted and unwonted exertions.

Tire following loiter was handed us hy lire Secretary of the I 'unstiUV Pistret Hospital,, with the request that Wj would publish it with our report

of the Entertainment. Cromwell, September 29, 1873. Sir lam requested by the Ladies and Gentlemen who took parts in the late entertainment in aid of the funds otthe Dunstan District Hospital, to express on their behalf their fullest appreciation of the kindness and attention they received at the hands of the Committee, both in providing requisites for the entertainment, and in the matter of individual personal attention. I need hardly say it affords me much pleasure to have to convey this expression of thanks. 1 am Year’s, very faithfully, CHARLES COLCLOUGH. Geo. Faehe, Esq., Secretary Dunstan Hospital.