ENTERTAINMENTS.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXVII, Issue 2411, 28 January 1909, Page 5

ENTERTAINMENTS.

“THE THIEF.”

“The Thief” is a telling pJa" a play that elevates- the stage, that sets dramatic 'art on a higher plane by having been written, and improves the th< atre lover hy being staged. It n a play that has a moral, but the moral is not forced, it is left to the audience to sec and to think over, i ho moral is the danger of once allowing nn truth fulness, deception and d-s----lionesty to take hold of the character, lest it soon leaven the whole. “'I n Thief” is a purely human play, but its theme is in the major key of pasu- n and jealousy. It deals with the dill cut perceptions of right and wrong that are to be found in human character, and shows how unjust man can be in judging his fellow beings, even his wife or his son. The play, as - so sited by Mr. J. C. Williamson’s bLn Dramatic Company-at His Majr- j v Theatre lo a crowded audience put evening was. a, masleriy product! m. and interest was held at high tension from the rise of, the curtain to Die fall. “The play is too natural and too realistic to’ call for applause or recalls, indeed the audience last evening were so absorbed in the port l ayn!"of the story that, they forgot that I he people on the stage were fait actors. The drama having been translated from the French, the characters W‘-re all French, and the pier, tolls that Richard Voysin and 11 iw wife Mai ire a re the guests of ’Raymond Lagard'\s at his country house. J/-.gardes is ■' wealthy man. hut Voy/ei has only a moderate iii-ome. Vo.'-in and iliis wife are very much in i -ve with each other, hut Lagardis’ sin Henri, a young man of nineteen, is infatuated W Mari.se, upon whom he forces his attentions’ by frequently hiding loyotelling letters in her boudoir, hut Marine gives the hoy no encouragement, and in a plain and sympathetic way tries to show him trie ioily of his infatuation. While the Voysins have been staying in the house sundry sums of money, in all about 10,000 francs, have been missed from time to tune, and Lagardes, without informing his wife or friends, employs a detective to catch the thief. The detective, who is passing in the house as a guest, rets to work, and denounces the son as the culprit. The father 'is fndignant when he hears the accusation, and refuses to hear such a charge: hut kcoufronted with the fact that the hoy has been frequently seen visiting the boudoir where the money was kept and lias been indulging in gamblhig •ml other forms of dissipation. The i.ither is ir-rui ailed that the son is guilty, but declines to tell the boy of tl, 1 charge that ha- been made again- t him.’ The d -tective confronts Henri with the evidence. The young man denies nothing, hut conic-yes that he stole the money. Tinfather its convinced that the hoy is guilty. for sonic oi the stolen m ies ire If on ml upon him.: The family -i tire for the night, and the next act Dm.vs Voysin and Mu rise together in their room. Henri’' method of robbing the boudoir drawer is discussed, and Voysin. •beingsceptical that the locks can he open ed with a penknife, tries the experiment. He succeeds, and in look,nramong the contents oi hi a rise drawer finds 7000 francs. He question his wife as to how she became pirns osseil of the money. A lie is told. Voysin is not satisfied, and more he are used, one lie does not lit tn> other, and Marise confesses that sin is the thief, and that Henri is innocent. She tells Voysin that, lov’m him, she wished to look -beautiful ir his eyes, and stole to get the mean; to dress iwell. -Ma rise pleads nn pity, hut the thought strikes- Voy-Mu. Why did Henri accept the guilt f Hu guesses the truth, and then follows c. splendid scene of passion and jealousy in which Voysin treats his wife’s an . peals for pity and love with derision He desires ' to tell Jfagar<!-•-.s th: truth, hut -Miarise persuades him .■ wait until the 'morning. The next day Lagardes, still -believing his s >r guilty, decides to send him out b Brazil. The lad is told to say go; d live to all present, 'but when he h.e passed tl.i.rough the door Marise i overcouio ‘by her false position, am' tolls the boy’s father that she is ththief, and that- the boy is innocent ’The father is overjoyed, and Yoy.-ir tells Legardes that as the -punkliim ui of the crime was to start hie alriyr in Brazil, he and Manse wdl accept that punishment and will g< there together. . As ?darise Voysin, Mas Ola Humphrey far excelled any previous character she lias portrayed. Before the confession of the crime, she acted w ith that freedom and abandon that are natural to a woman who has everything she desires. In her scenes with Henri slio was homely and reasonable, and was in every way convincing when she tried to show him how ut terly hopeless his love -was. The only characters that are on the stage in the second act are Via rise and Rich aril Voysin (Mr. KolkerL and it war then that. Miss Humphrey showed her power. In her subtle persuasion of her husband not to open the telLtale drawer, she showed. how light and 'frank she ’could be, but when her true position was discovered she demonstrated how much pathos, anger. and jealousy she is able to. -put into her work when she at fi'gt pleads with, talks -plainly to, anil ni her extremity defies Voysin to tel her crime to the world. Miss Humphrev then rose to her highest abiiity aud the feelings of the audience were so intensely held that applause was entirelv forgotten. Mr. Henry \<>l- - as Richard Voysin, proved tin nisei f an'actor of great, ability : b. is frenzied derision of the pleading of Al’arise, his passion and jealousy were all the work of an artist, and die was natural and convincing m every wav. Air Ivolker never over-worked ns emotions; that was the charm of Ins portrayal of the part, and lus tpagic scenes showed tiliat the lias an inti mate knowledge of human nature and emotion. Mr. George Titheradge proved what m finished actor lie is m the calm, subdued, yet emotional part of Raymond Lagardes. The character could easilv be overdrawn, out Mr. Titheradge is too widely experienced to make any such mistake. _ i the scene where Ihe refuses to siup. ct ids son of the crime, his work was M the highest merit, and h.s paitup with the if a 1 sely-a ee i ise il b o' «-U pathetic and intensely natuial. _ Mj])iou Titheradge ilia's a most suitahk ~art as Henri Lagardes, and. though itill vomm-. showed that he has been An ilkatw ii. hi. .rtunusual knowledge of human uatu.iv and in the scene where he finally parts from his fabler with the un-

deserved stigma of a crime—which he accepts for the sake of a love for the guilty woman —upon him, lie showed his histrionic ability, and completely won the sympathy of tihe audience. Miss Susan "Vaughan made an excellent Isabel Lagardes, and Mr. Sidney Stirling acted well as ,M. Zumbard, the detective. A word of praise must be said for the completeness of the mounting of the play, which was on a magnificent scale, the boudoir scene being a most artistic setting. Iho dressing was also in keeping " ith the general effect. Miss Humphrey ill the first act wore an cxpuisite evening gown of a soft pink tint, tummed with the finest lace, and in the second act displayed a most expensive dressing gown of real -lace. “ZIRA.” To-night the emotional play “Zira ’ will be staged. In this modern drama -Miss Humphrey’s tragic and emotional mowers are said to bo scon at their best, and critics have spoken of her portrayal of Zira as a masterpiece of stage won;. Mi. b° ' I,and .Mr. Titheradge also have °°To-morrow night the company will appear for the last time here ni M • Svdney Grundy’s famous play IL Village Priest.”