"Blow for Blow"

Feilding Star, Volume XII, Issue 143, 26 May 1891, Page 2

"Blow for Blow"

The Feilding Amateur Dramatic Society appeared m the Assembly Rooms last night, when they staged the drama " Blow for Blow." This was undoubtedly their most ambitious attempt, ar.d. the members of the company had; oi.e and all, done their best to merit the approval and applause of the audience. The utmost attention was given to the tcenic effects, and the stage was better furnished than we have seen it at any pervious performance of the society.. The audience was not so large as the occasion deserved, but this is accounted for by the fact of so many of the .residents being out of town for the holiday, and thus could not" be present. The following is a brief resume* : — Mr F. Petherick as Josiah Oraddock, Mr W. S. Porthouse as John Drummond. Mr 0, Aitken, as Lieutenant Linden ; Mr J. Priugle as Mr Bolder, Mr Eeading as Mr Lenward, Mr C. Nicholson as Sergt. Barry, were all letter-perfect in their parts, but they were somewhat lack ing in animation, and Mr Porthouse who had a character to represent in which strong passion should have been portrayed, did not always rise to the occasion, otherwise Mr Porthouse acted better than we have before seen him. The same may be said of Mr 0. Aitken. " Mr Fred Keen, as Charley Spraggs, had a part which ho filled with credit, and he made the mosL of his points and excited frequent laughter and appla"use. Mr R. F. Hay: lfctle, as Dr. Grace, wa6 very good and was the right-man in the right place.' Of course the ladies all looked well and acted well. Miss N. Parr filled the dual character of Mildred Craddock. and Alice Pethencfe very creditably, and Mrs Oliver, as Kitty Wobbler; acted with her usual good caste and feeling, Miss A. Bilderbeck, as Mrs .Vfoulsey, was very .good and made the most of" her part. The acting of Miss A. Keen, as Lady Ethel Linden, was capital. On this occasion Miss Keen made her debut, and achieved an undoubted success. ' This young lady showed clearly that she has considerable talent as an actress. She i 3 evidently very painstaking, -and in her portrayal of the character of Lady Linden, showed how well she was able to interpret the intentions of the author of the play. -Taking .the piece altogether, we v certainly must congratulate the Society on the way in which they put it on the stage. " The" chief fault of the several actors perhaps was that they were too anxious to say the exact words, and in that anxiety sometime forgot the " acting" which in some of the scenes was therefore rather "preachy." Apart from that everything Went smoothly and well, and we feel assured if there had been a larger audience to greet them, they would have played with far greater animation) and with greater spirit.