THEATRE ROYAL.

Globe, Volume XXII, Issue 2045, 13 September 1880, Page 3

THEATRE ROYAL.

On Saturday evening Mr Reynolds produced another of his picoes, entitled “ A Christmas Mystery.” It is somewhat of the mould of the society plays which have become fashionable of late years, and may bo called a comedy-drama. The plot is simple and effectively worked out, though here and there a constant playgoer can recognise in the dialogue passages which strike him as familiar. Mrs Hill, as Ruth Sorrell, played the part with much vivacity and archness in the lighter scenes, and with considerable dramatic power in the more serious portions of the piece. Miss Bessie Vivian as Miss Dorinda Doddridge, a lady of uncertain age, with a proclivity for a youthful husband, made quite a hit. The character throughout was delineated with a truth to life which made it intensely amusing, and as a whole it was the best played part in the piece. Mias Arcthusa May has discovered what Artemus Ward would call her " fort ” in the shape of characters of the description of Polly. There was an entire absence of the staginess and artificiality which detracts so much from her success in the higher walks of the drama, and she played the part with a charming freshness and natural style which rendered it a success. Miss Cora Mclanwas some what too demonstrative and tragic for tho part of the Captain’s helpmate, and there was also a slight defectiveness in the text. Miss Bessie Hill played the part of the child excellently. It was a child, and not one of those abnormal creations one sees so often on the stage. Mr Reynolds, as an adventurer of the Dazzle type, played well, though ho has not a great deal to do, and Mr Burford, who by the way seems to have adopted the role of lover, was successful in tho part of Tom Villiers. Mr Muagravo was one of those cheery old gentlemen which no one better than ho knows how to play, and Mr Clinton was appropriately villainous as the evil genius of the piece. Mr Kennedy was quite at home in tho comic element, of which he made a great deal, and that excessively amusing. The scenery was very pretty, a snow set especially being worthy of Mr Willis. It might be suggested as an improvement that tho gentleman who furnishes the crying for tho stage baby should take lessons from some family circle—as rendered on Saturday night it resembled nothing that could even by the mest vivid imagination be construed into the cry of a child, and had a most absurd effect. “A Christmas Mystery” will be repeated this evening.