THE THEATRE ROYAL.

Southland Times, Issue 1579, 17 May 1872, Page 2

THE THEATRE ROYAL.

The Theatre was well attended on Wednesday night, thus proving what many assert, that really good acting will always draw a " good house" in Invercargill. The performance commenced with a scene from " The Wife," in which Mr Tavares had the assistance of an amateur, who performed remarkably well. The chief part of course fell to the professional, who did it all the justice a not very interesting scene would admit of. The" second portion of the entertainment, scenes from " The Honeymoon," was better appreciated, the appearance of Miss Surtees being greeted with applause, which her careful and graceful acting well merited. Our old friend Mr Wotton acted the "Mock Duke," and it is unnecessary to say did it well. Mr Tavares's part as Duke Aranza was capitally done. The most interesting portion of theprogramme, and the most trying, was undoubted ly the scenes from Richard IIT. Richard 111. and Queen Anne are two of the most difficult characters to sustain, and performers who attempt them necessarily challenge comparison with actors of the highest° eminence. "We say challenge, for whether intentionally or not, ifc is impossible for anyone who has seen Kean, Kemble, or Brooke, to forget their impersonations. This comparison is a very heavy penalty, and which no actor nowadays can altogether evade. "We would not be captious or over ' critical, still we think that Mr Tavares's reading of Richard. HL is, if striking and partly original, somewhat weak. We miss the profound dissimulation, the exquisite hypocrisy, veiled by the arts suggested by wonderful intellectual power, which is the keynote to Shakespeare's Richard. The villainy of Mr Tarareß's Richard is too apparent. In other respects, Mr Tayares's acting deserves praise. One disadvantage he labors under : his stature and figure are more adapted for a Clarence or an° Edward than for a Gloucester.

i n ri - — ' — — ■ 'reappearance gave no indication of being " Curtailed of its fair proportion, Cheated of feature by disaembUng Nature, Deformed, unfinished," which Richard himself acknowledges, nor of that " lump of foul deformity" which Queen Anne calls him. Of Miss Surtees's Queen Anne, we would speak with praise. Her conception of the character is good, and if her acting is unequal, it still displays careful study and appreciation. Her appearance in the second scene, attending the corpse of Henry VL, is very effective ; her lamentations over tbe body, and her curses on tbe murderer were well given. The fine scene with Eichard (Gloucester) was very unequal — in parts very good, in others not so. The part is one unusually difficult— grief, hatred, revenge, indignation — all requiring distinctive expression, but still evincing underlying love and tenderness — outraged, but still there. It is no dispraise to say that Miss Surtees's acting is scarcely on a par with her conception of the character ; yet in our opinion her Queen Anne is by no means below Mr Tavares's Richard— or rather Gloucester — for we saw not the King. By the way, we had one ofthe best scenes from Henry VI., although the programme only promised parts of Richard 111. No one could object to this, but it might mislead the pit, and possibly others, by giving it as a scene from Richard 111. All readers of Shakespeare remember Gloucester's soliloquy, " What ! Will the aspiring blood of Lancaster Sink in the ground ?" Space will not allow us to criticise at greater length a performance which, taken as a whole, was excellent, and gave one and all real pleasure. The performance closed with a really smart farce, which kept the audience in laughter throughout. It was thoroughly enjoyable, and Mr Tavares and Miss Surtees were warmly called for at the conclusion — a compliment which was well merited. A farewell performance is announced for this evening, when the fourth act of tbe " Merchant of Venice" will be given intact, as well as the fifth act of " Othello," Mr Tavares personating the Moor. To those who appreciate the intellectual pleasure of seeing Shakespeare's plays illustrated by artistes of far more than average ability, this performance will afford a treat not often enjoyed in Invercargill.