HAWTREY COMEDY COMPANY.

Gisborne Times, Volume X, Issue 1001, 21 September 1903, Page 2

HAWTREY COMEDY COMPANY.

THEATRE ROYAL TO-NIGHT. The remarkable and world-famous play, “A Message from Mars,” will be staged for the first time in Gisborne to-night. Of all the plays in the repertoire of the Hawtrey Comedy Company, none stands out so prominently as Ganthony’s powerful comedy-drama. It was due to the enterprise of Mr W. F. Hawtrey that this fine production was brought under the notice of the Australian public, and when the piece was first staged in Sydney it made an immediate hit, and since then it has enjoyed a popularity in this part second to none, and has obtained record runs in different localities. A feature of this charming and original conception is the strong hold it has obtained upon the religious element of society, and it has been quite a common thing to see clergymen, with their families, enjoying and applauding this unique play. Several bishops have witnessed the piece in this country, and Bishop Barlow (late of North Queensland and now Bishop of Goulburn, New South Wales) has not hesitated to publicly express his appreciation of the moral value which such a play possesses. The Bishop remarked that “ a visit to the theatre on such an occasion is calculated to send men back in a strong, moral, and elevated spirit.” This testimony was only recently endorsed by Canon Tucker, of Melbourne, who preached a special sermon on “ A Message from Mars.”

To-morrow night the Company will produce Sir Francis Burnand’s much-talked-of farcical comedy, “ The Lady of Ostend.”