THE AMATEURS AT THE UNION THEATRE.

Grey River Argus, Volume III, Issue 203, 2 May 1867, Page 2

THE AMATEURS AT THE UNION THEATRE.

The performance offered by the Greymouth Dramatic Amateurs to their brethren of the Volunteer Fire Brigade took place on Tuesday evening, at Kilgour's Union Theatre. The pieces chosen were "Macbeth/' and " Boots at the Swan." This combination of the "divine William's" and Charles Selby— the Swan of Avon, and Muggins maxims — produced an entertainment that drew toge. ther a crowded audience, kept thepi highly amused for a long evening, sending them, at about half -past -. twelve in the morning, " laughing to their beds. " The rdles of the ambitious Thane and of his high-souled, but exceedingly uncomfortable spouse, of course devolved upon the professionals of the company—Mr Lionel Harding and Miss Rosa Cooper. The gentleman gave a good strenuous representation of the varying moods of the alternate bold and craven usurper — now dariug " aught that may become a man," and anon shivering with coward fear, and only preserved from self-betrayal by the. courage andambitious promptings of his wife. M.iss : llosa Cooper displayed iv the part of Lady Macbeth a power, both of conception and of execution, worthy of a far larger arena than the very limited proportions of the Greymouth stage, and the equally limited number of the drama's patrons"" there residing, can afford her. Her voice, figure, and manner arc equally fitted to give effect to the exhibition of the stormiest passion, while there are occasional tenches of tenderness, in which she reaches the very. depths of pathos. She is evidently well up in all the traditional li business," ami trends the stage with the tinunesc; and aplomb of thf skilled actress. l-ler bosfc "points" drew down reiterated plaudits, and— which is a much' Higher comj.lhiKjut to the arllih:— her performance hrongiibnt commanded the silent and cm apt uttcitimi of the audience. We need no.t partieul.uisj individual scenes in apart so tli. mugiily well known as that of Lady .Macbeth, but content ourselves by saying that all were judiciously, and. many excellently acted. The minor parts, with the exception of that of the 'Gentlewoman, Lady" Macbeth's Attendant, the few lines of which were nicely and quietly spoken by Mrs O'Brien, were given t» the gentleman amateurs. These we do not intend to criticize — considering it unfair to animadvert upon the merits or shortcomings of those, who step out of th£ routine of their daily business, 'to afford us —often afc considerable sacrifice of time andmoney- an evening's delectation, which aims at being intellectual,- is assuredly^nnbcent, ;in'lis certain to be most amusing ; while the cause intended to be served cannot but command our most ' earnest sympathies. * It would be equaliyinvidiousto mark any out for praise when every one does his best ;. and if the exertions of those who are riot cut out by nature for actors are riot always rewarded by the reception they anticipate, it is. no" fault of theirs. Their tragic utterances are siire, iv any case, to elicit the tribute of tears ; and srhether these be of sorrow or of laughter, the end is attained just as well. For instance, theie was on thi3 occasion 1 one particular gentleman whose legs, and the peculiar vestment that encased them, won the \ special admiration of the audience, and whenever he appeared, were welcomed with shouts. Perhaps he wasn't flattered by this ; but let him be of good heart— he was the prime favorite of the evening. Let him, also, take to heart the well-known anecdote of George 11., who, going to see Garrick in KichariV took no notice whatever of the great mime, but was so excessively tickled by the actor who played the Lord Mayor, that he kept continually crying out- " Yen vill clat Lor Mayor come again? I do loaf clat Lord Mayor!' : So, if Royalty had honored Kilgour's on Tuesday, those legs would indubitably have ..walked into the royal affections."'" There was % tender interest also to be found iv watching the -display of individual idiosyncrasies called forth by the action of the drama. Nothing is more difficult for an amatgur than to get rid for the time of his habitual ideas, j and throw himself completely into his part. When Macbeth loudly demands a "clearance" of ali his doubts, the start of Macduff betrayed the eager wish to supply him without delay with that necessary Custom House document. Again, the exclamation, "What, all my little chickens and their dam," elicited an evident, desire on the part of some of the/ interlocutors to be off at once and secureX .'■ fresh supply of Nelson produce. , Ir It is a fortunate circumstance in the^": c i of this play, that the period of the jjf on^£& considered very uncertain even b*^ e^^^; Shakespearian commentators antL#^^P p l io fflfc This gives an agreeable aud coip"^* '.OTsftoi tude, very useful to the staj^ ana g?l||pT]ie has to supply a largo riump °^ from a limited repertoire? Thus ISMjl SMj sides at 18s 6d," may, f/ aught w^?|P I .'jf ow have been the custouwy wear ?«P/ Of + time, and Lady Mactfth walkinngfeas > Twa l a kerosene night b&p cannot ' I. And an auaohronisuiy^he " musi6^gp?^| c " lif so introduced in tteintervals, Mdujj l *eJ W ~24J3TeJ» thing like jigger ineloji^^i^^^Tß^'^ can say thai Christy's T^Mff^!^^ ;■'-'-'' <: ' /\

scenery. In ShakespearoVdays thd .was got over with remarkable easel sticking up a placard 'i.This way tV ' Wood," and it is even reported tu^ "^^| Virgin Queen once left the Globe Theait great confusion, shocked at the doprayil an announcement " This is a blasted heA Much the same principle is adoped by>o^H amateurs, as a pair of drawing FO om wi^^| sometimes find themselves "- left out iv cold" m the middle of the aforesaid prdfai^^H designated heath. '^^^| We preuously intimated^that the effe^^H the play was to bo heightened by theJ^^l formance of the whole of the witch -^^^B a bold effort, which was completely j*sby the result produced, The diffif V* Ijocke were got over with wonderful chiefly by trying a variety of k* although the glorious harmonies wer<ft n^t quite so perfectly^ rendered as at \ Gavlen or the Crystal Palace, the I H effeU showed careful training, and thl sessioii of several good voices among them |H pany. v"he ad libitum arrangements \m alluded \p were here found most a<» ■ tageous. In Charles Keaue's famous revi* ■ with all their splendour, there was a preci* ■ of detkife and finical attention to miirM ■ points \)i|costume and accessories that vm 1 sometim el monotonous from its very corre Jß I ness. Nrtsoin this case, yAwtq each vi^r I being left 1 0 his or her own notion of dresl H the charad er, a -pleasing diversity was i K I duced tha^added considerably to the well m ness of the|cenes wherein they appear Tl \M was speciaW remarkable in one particnll W\ figure, cosfcined in heavy black drapery \ **- such a inyslriou^jidowy way as to icaA -- its sex quit*i mW^er of speculation TK« -, f epicene perSnage to-t «p a pose of at JE sngidityagaultoue of the side scenes, affl ' by maintainflg it unflinchingly, ]eft }t pM tirely to the pagination whether you werf ' looking at it flm behind or before, thus c J Icittng that sc| of mysterious awe which i| ' , \klways inspird by the Silent Horror in Bull We nii, 8 t not qmit mention! - Qtfthe nitrate § strontiin, whioh had beeil compounded «. a. master-hand, and in thel cauVron sceneSlayed its part of red fire with! consummate |wer-tickliug as well the! noses«s the ej| of the audience. " I At lie concllion of the play, a very pretty I song Jras mcif executed by a gentleman I amatfr, and fas received with loud ap- IJk provaronly,es|jingauenooi«B by thelatenessff tije^h*.. The curtain was then raiael and MwCooper appeared in simple eveiAg dress, h deUver a few occasional* liuesjpreparedian incentive to the exer, r°*K iu<x 9*» F " y e Brigade, and illustratabya.welHitangedtableaq, of an episode! a streetf c. There was not (as will be sel by the s&joined copy) miich in thtf- „ Unralems elVeJ but vivified'- as they were by m Coopefe fine statuesque poses and 'l m T elec # n> th ey. must have roused— as thelvere iifended to do- in the breasta , - ottnolvvho Hard them, a strong sense of the vi it necftsity of such precautions as • the to ation f a fire company implies. At • their clusim, Miss Coppev begged indul, geuce imperfections on account of hurried study nt this, apology was quite unneeded, as the iole thing could hardly have b.een bettei ne.. ■.-• ' "B ; at the Swan" followed, and kept the lit* in a continuous roar till the fall of the culn. And here we must depart from. \r 6/ t>P * ia( * la^ d . own » singling out Mr DLhen for praise, for his acting o^ Jacob ky-ig, th e deaf Boots, which showed a -sens* humor, and histrionic force that almost fes him out of the category of ama-. t^urs. lis tribute is more especially due, JH as we Igiyen tq undeixstaud that a greatf^M part of\ ibor of drilling the'^famatie " rP corps fy Jien oja h'.s sh»mlders as acting ' manager cou j unction w Jth Mr -Hardin" • ' and the 1 t was, on the whole, most cre-~ - H (tital .to v- managerial ability. Miss *** 1 Uopeu p 1 Lydia Moonshine with a bur- ' 1 lesque c: r aganee ant i {un tliafc c] j cite( j } T\ f, f ' llter ' bein ? well "Played ui> ■ , -M*?L V characters. We are glad to- ' 1 babble; t -onicle the evening as one of \ complete !SS> pecvuiiary. as wejl as hj^ M