"THE MIDNIGHT WEDDING"

Rangitikei Advocate and Manawatu Argus, Volume XXXII, Issue 8830, 5 June 1907, Page 2

"THE MIDNIGHT WEDDING"

Whether the result is really attributable to Anthony Hope and his incomparable “Prisoner of Zcuda” or not, tho fact remains that hia creative influence, and the thrilling romance of which that delightful play remains such a brilliant example, seems consciously or unconsciously asserting themselves in the melodrama of the period. There is as much difference between the strenuous, picturesque, and highly dramatic play, “The Midnight Wedding, ” and the comparatively drab, sordid, commonplace proto type of ordinary melodrama as there is between a highly imaginative, forcibly-written railway bookstall novel and tho police court reports of the daily newspapers. It is quite a mental relaxation, and not as with many melodramas one could think of a cynical amusement, to watc h its sensational progress. Even if tho dramatist has lot his fancy run riot, ho has hit upon a uovekaud appealing romantic theme, and worked it out with a cunning and resource of a practical The cast for tho interpretation of this magui - ficont play has been generally regarded "as the most powerful combination now associated with drama in the colonies. Mr Beatty, tho star of the company, which includes all the old favourites and several now artists of repute, amongst whom are Msses May Oougdou, Dina Cooper, Amy Singleton, Winifred .Gunn, Messrs James Lindsay, Conway Wingfield, Herbert Leigh, O. R. Stanford, Tom Caunaui, Rutland Beckett, Leopold Stach, etc. Tho season of one night only commences at Opera House, Marten, on Wednesday, June 12th,, and the plans are rapidly filling in' at Mogridge’s. A special feature of the production will be the inclusion of the famous children’s scene from the famous musical drama “The Fatal Wedding, ” which will ho revived in all its glory at the end of the performance.