THE GAIETY COMPANY.

Oamaru Mail, Volume II, Issue 440, 25 September 1877, Page 2

THE GAIETY COMPANY.

"Our Girls," as [ erfonned last evening at the Masonic FTall by Mr. HaL's Gaiety Comedy Company, was unquestionably the best thing of the kind that we-have seen placed upon the stage in Oamnru. J he comedy is well calc.u ated to maii'tain the reputation ga nod by T'yron of being the be.st writer of that-. of play; of the pre ent day. '! he plot is exe- ediugly sim>!e. but witiial containing sul';icie:.t to maintain the iat- rest of "the audieuc: from first to last; th - characters are we 1-dra wn, and a~e but slight exaggeration; <'f persons to be met with daily "in large cities ; the Language is light, sparkling, and exceeding y racy, without in any way approaching the vu gar ; and the whole of these materials are u»ed with an amount of care and knowledge of effect only to be expected from an accom-

pli3hed dramatist and actor. In our opinion ; '• Our Girls'" is the best comedy Hyron has j writcen. and that is saying a great ileal, for, with the exception of the late Bobertson, no dramatist has within our remembrance written so many successful comidijs. Both these auihors have taken society for their models, ami have as it were he'd ilic mirror up to nature. They have both presented to the world many ot the ludicrous as well as the unprincipled pha-es of lite amongst the '•blue blood" of Old Butain: they have shown to the world its vi-tues and its vices, its vultures and its victim-'. Both have been highly successful, because I nth have carried out the r work in a 11 at iral manner and without a*iy attempt at dramatic effect. The drama has lo st a considerable amount of its attrac ions. The itre-goers have becme weary of pi tys mad; up of mnr lers and wonderful feats of daring and cour.vu seldom if ever met with of! the stig".~ '1 he age is essential y a practical one. Muf prefers, as a necessity. p'ays cont.lining some show of p:obabiLcy. > v oei' ty i< in conceit, witli its T, and delights more to see its.lf rcllceted on the stage t ian 11 look upon anv oth -r drama'ic piotu ->\ Hence 11 so lie e;t lit the popularly of Bo eitsons and Byron's comedies ; but not a little of that popularity is due to til", manner in which they are constructed and the elegant language with which the characters in them are endowed. "Our Girls" is 110 exception to thi> rul'■ ; there is not a word, we believe, in the. piece that the most fastidious could take < xeeption to. it b istles w.tli smart sayings jp-i'kle-? with wit and abounds with da lies of the supr. mely ludicrous ; but at the sime tune it co tains m my passages of a thoughtful nature and an :diiiuda>ice of whol'some truths. '1 lie audience last night (which was one of the largest we have ever seen in the Hall, every pait be ng crowded) fully demonstrated their appreciation of the rare treat attbrded them by fivquenfc rounds of applau-o and bursts < f merrinient : indeed, we may iairly s y that on no previous occasion has an ' 'aniaru audience indulged in such hearty laughters was the cise hi t night. Mrs. .T. L. Hall made h- r lirst appear.iiiee in Oaina-u. and at once established herself a favourite with the audience. She g .ve an excellent rcprcentation of the gay but good-hearted Helii Gay--11101 lie. As Lilian Gaythome, .Miss \\ isenian was also good, 1 hough it ap eared to us that she was se -reely sulliciently vivacious for the character, ifiss l-u.-y Asht-n made an adniiral)!e Mrs. Gunn. Mr. Oily Dee,ring was v ally excellent. as Dr. FlcniiiiL', while Messrs. Oli i 11 and Love, as 1' reuerick Fanshaw and Arthur Aiedwyn, were also very good. Mr. Wilkinson, who has on several previous occasions appeared in this town, roily astoni.-hed everyone as Septimus Tipkius. Mr. Herbert did well the iltle ho hidt. d) as Edwards. lint I'.y fa" tin- be t played part in the piece was that oi Captain Gioirah. of the 1' 11 n■ 'eshiic. Hull's Mr. -I. L. Hall peife-ty revel! d in the part of the absurd captain, and kept i'ne audience in a state of pi.vpetu.il lau.Jiter. We have, seen "Johnny," as he is familiarly st\led, play inan\ fun iV charact-'rs as few oth r aetics could pi v t'neui, but his Gingah <juite surpasses anything we have hitherto si en nim do in tln.t line. I aken as a whole. it would be diilicnlt to imagine, in a comparatively small t wn like Uainaiu, a more suec.•ssf'ul representation of any piece than that o-iv.-n of "Our Girls" last night by Mr. Hall's company, and anyone i\ ho misses an opportunity of se ing this, the be.->t oi Uvron's comedies, will ind-ed los 1 a treat The farce of "The Steeplechase brought the performance to a clue, Mr. Oily 1 Jeering. as T.tuiais, being 0 p.'CiaHy amusing. The :■ ame programme will he pre. en ted this evening. _________