THE COMEDY AND BURLESQUE COMPANY.

Kumara Times, Issue 1451, 23 May 1881, Page 2

THE COMEDY AND BURLESQUE COMPANY.

This combination gave their last perfermance this season at the Theatre Royal, on Saturday evening, to a splendid house. The piece chosen was Bourcicault's four-act drama, "The Colleen Bawn," which was rendered in a masterly and faithful style, each individual member of the well-known company seemingly being stimulated to if possible greater exertions by the excellent example shown them by Mr J. J. Wallace and Mrs Walter Hill the two " stars" brought here at great expense, giving proof that no want of energy or desire to produce novelties can be laid to the charge of the management. Of Mr Wallace we must first speak : his conception and pourtrayal of the neer-do-well Myles na Coppaleen was at once the theme of admiration, his varying flashes of humor—now dry and crisp, uow gaily effervescing like sparkling wine—showed most conclusively how carefully the actor had studied the author, and therein embodied the ideal easy-going, good-hearted, rollicking Irishman, whose only enemy was himself. Of Mrs Walter Hill we can only reiterate the generally-expressed opinion that she is a genuine artiste; her Anne Chute was brimful of verve, easy, natural in all her movements, and superbly dressing the part. Miss Lizzie Lawrence gave a splendid reading of Mrs Cregan, the haughty yet loving mother of a wayward son ; her denunciation of a real dramatic effort. Miss I\.my Johns, as the herione Eily O'Connor, was charming in simplicity, her excellent singing greatly adding to the excellence of her performance. Mr Herbert was thoroughly in his element as the cringing squireen Corrigan, make-up and brogue being equally lifelike. Mr R. Love, as Danny Mann, proved what an all-round good actor he is; his scene where he receives the glove—the token to remove poor Eily—was painfully realistic, showing the struggle between conscious guilt and the great love he bore for his young master and foster-brother. Mr W. Warren was easy and natural as Father Tom. Mr R. W. Rede, as in all parts like Kyrie Daly, was all that could be desired ; he looked the part, and gave a consistent rendering, which "well merited the applause he received. MiMack Alexander played the unthankful parfcof Hardress Cregan conscientiously, it was a gentlemanly rendering, and gave tokens of careful study. Messrs Shiels and Hall deserve credit for the mechanical and scenic effects. Mr Shiels also caused a good deal of amusement by his humorous impersonation of Shela, Danny's mother. Mr Wilkinson, as usual, was funny, making all that could be made out of the minor part of Pat, a servant. In fact the whole performance was of such a chai-acter that it makes us regret that our small township will not allow of us having longer seasons of this steeling company. We wish them every success wherever they go, for they deserve it.