AMUSEMENTS.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXII, Issue 63, 9 March 1912, Page 6

AMUSEMENTS.

MISS MARIK BAINES. 4. Tho audacity of an American company promoter who floated a concern which was to derive unlimited electric power from the sun’s rays, to he sold in glass jars at current prices, is as nothing compared to the ingenuity with which Muss Marie Baines and tier talented new English company dispense bottled sunshine. Last night there was a fair attendance at the Town Hall to hear “Miss Lancashire, Ltd.”, the consensus of opinion being, it one can' judge from the after-party ohser.vations overhead in the dimly-light-ed confines of Juliet Street, that the play was worth conning irom W hangamomona, and being towed over the saddle to hear, and that Miss Marie Baines, the lass from Lancashire, was every hit as funny as Mary Gibb’s cousin Timothy from Yorkshire. The 'story of Miss Lancashire, Ltd. is soon told. Eve Lancashire is a young lady of property and considerable fortune; John Higgins is her protector and guardian. He has a son, but no money. What mere natural than transferring the money to the Higgins’ family by the gentle aid of a wedding ring? This Higgins and the son, a yguth with a propensity to racing and parting his haur in the middle, endeavour to do. They have never, seen the heiress, and, consequently, when she arrives at their residence to find them all out, and Mary Ellon Thompson, the newly-arrived servant from Lancashire, making herself at home in the sitting room, she .has no difficulty in carrying out a Kttle plan to find out what Harry is •’like before she commits herself and the money to his care. Mary Ellen Thompson becomes Eve Lancashire, and the heiress becomes the maid —a very pretty maid, indeed. Harry thinks this also, and, casting monetary affairs to the winds, seeks the hand of Mary Ellon Thompson, alias Eve Lancashire. Before, however, true love runs its course to the church, Mary Ellen Thompson plays the very deuce with all and sundry. When Herbert Fox 'informs her that he has decided

to float hoi: into company—Miss Lan- '!• oashire, Ltd.—she objects strenuously to being floated, because at Brighton . glie swallowed a mouthful of sand when : she tried, it last. Moses Goldberg, v an American Jew, after the money |f| that Harry has dropped on the ponies, b mercy and much sauce at ......her. hands.- ■ Grant, the butler, is incapacitated by her with a rolling pin early in the second act. John Henry ■ Thompson,. father,- likewise. sup--1 plies much fun, for Mary Ellen is not in a hurry to recognise her father, iAc soon, however, as Mary Ellon decides to fall into the arms of her father, then the plot is unfolded, and the hero claims his bride, no longer the servant girl, but now Eva Lanchasirs, heiress. iv; Miss Mprie Baines, as Marv ( Ellen, is . lilpimpnse.. She produced screams ofblaitghter witlv her broad Lancashire dialect and quaint manners. Her impersonation of the little girl in the train who liked Blackpool because she shad never been there before, was quite the cleverest piece of work that wo have over heard'here. There is not a dull moment when the Lancashire lass is on the boards. Mr Allan B. Young? as Harry Higgins, played the part of the young blood to perfection.. It was not overdone, and was altogether a very creditable performance. Miss Motive Peel (Eve Lancashire) has a nice voice and a good presence. Miss Louisa Goniding, as Bertha Higgins, makes the most of h.er innings in the Krile game. There wrs nothing wrong with Mr J. Henderson's in to-pro t- tin of the part of John Higgins—in fact, lie was decidedly good. Mr Pa d Eric Vivian (Grant), Alex Devon (Herbert Fox) and the other members of the company were all good, and helped to make the play the 'decided success it undoubtedly was. HIS MAJESTY’S THEAERE. Last night’s audience were unstinted in their applause at the programme presented. “The Gamblers of the • West’’ being to the fore as a photo drama with an unusually good plot. “The Little Rebel” is a tale of the American Civil War. All the pictures arc of the highest order. Monday evening will see an entire' change of star pictures, when the groat play, “The Silent Call” will ‘lie screened for the first time. This film is classed amongst the best for exciting and true-to-life plot. “On the Warpath” is the finest Indian Selig drama yet performed in front of the camera. The never-to-lje-forgotten “Custer’s Last Charge” is a battle scene enacted as near the sc«ne of conflict as possdPe. -'til the comics, four in number, are perfect laughter raisers.