ENTERTAINMENTS

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIV, Issue 191, 10 February 1912, Page 4

ENTERTAINMENTS

o WHITE'S CIRCUS TO-DAY. Width's Circus will open for a one nighjj's season to-night. As is usual with, .this great show, the programme to be submitted sparkles with unique. novelties. The menagerie ol.strange wild animals is sure to draw big attention. A special train will run from Waitara, returning after the circus. , EMPIRE THEATRE. The programme will undergo another complete change at the Empire Theatre this aifternoon, and the new series' will be shiqwn again at 8 o'clock to-night. Amongst the new films are'the latest "Bathe G'azatte;" '*Prague," "British North Borneo," and "Cod -Fishing' from a Trawler," a fine quartette of pictures showing latest notable events, beautiful scenic views, and interesting industrial scenes. In the dramatic ■section there are "Van Bibber's Experiment," "The Tribe's Penalty" (Western romance); "Indian Brothers." The comics will be Sound an amusing collection. "Tent Village," a Lubin comedy, is said to be ant out and out screamer, whilst much fun 18 occasioned "by "Hilda's Lovers" and "Josh and Lindy's Wedding." ' ■ "DUE SPECKLED BAND." "The Speckled Band" lias come and gone, and the great majority of New Plymouth theatre-goers are just awaken' ingi to the' fact that they have missed a superb dramatic treat, one that of its kind could scarce be improved vyxra. For New Plymouth was by no means well represented at the performance. Gastom Mervale, William Desmond, James B. Atholwood) and Leslie Victor, at once the most accomplished quartette of male actors yet seen in one ratst in Taranaki, played to half-empty benches in the Theatre Royal last night. Downstairs the attendance was better, but nothing like as good as the outstanding merit of the.piece deserved. But to the play itself. Nothing quite the same, certainly not with such a galaxy of talent as seen in the roles of the principal actors, has been seen in New Plymouth previously. It was, In short, the strongest array of male actors who have yet crossed the local footboards. Conan Doyle long ago proved absorbing in his novels, but for true dramatic effect and fascinating interest he must be seen in drama—in "The Speckled Band." The play opens with a presentation of a' coronial inquiry with the "twelve good men and true" figuring prominently, in the foreground, and the audience is at once introduced to Dr. Rylott (Mr. Mervale), who, with Sherlock Holmes (Mr. Desmond), is the central figure in the piece. The former character (a retired Anglo-Indian surgeon) is in the midst of his ultimately successful attempt to bamboozle the jury, so as to leave them im complete doubt as to the nature of his step-daughter's sudden demise. His resources as a character exponent and a weird mystifying actor of the (first water are immediately given free play, and how, with the help of his unlimited .rascality 1 and semi-hypnotic influence, aided and abetted by his housekeper and Ali (his Indian valet) he all but succeeds in his plot to remove the Becond of his two nieces from his path and the way to his possession of their wealth under'their deceased! parent's will, compels, for the time being, the almost fearful interest of his audience. Even the venerable and erstwhile faithful butler, "Rogers" (the by no means unimportant part of which is excellently sustained throughout by, .Mr. J. B. Atholwood), falls under his influence or spell, but in Enid Stonor, (Miss Dorothy Dix, the legatee under the will), Who. calls in the aid of Sherlock Holmes, he fails, but not without making one ot the most heinous attempts at encompassing her death as it is possible to associate with an eccentric and unscrupulous' Awgl-o-Indian. It is in the attempt at murder, frustrated at the eleventh hour by the redoubtable "Sherlock," that "the Speckled Band" in the shape of a real live snake plays such an important part. The final scene, in which virtue triumphs and Dr. Rylott, "hoist with his own petard," dies with true dramatic effect, is one which leaves a lasting impression. Qlr. William Desmond, as Sherlock Holmes, immediately strikes one as being of grand and imposing stage appearance, for which his fine manly form, his strongly-developed, clear-cut features are largely responsible. In his acting also he does justice to a marked degree to the exploits attributed to Conan Doyle's master-creation. Mr. Gaston Mervale and Mr. j; B. Atholwood, as indicated above, added to their reputation as two of the foremost actors seen in these parts, and likewise Mr. Leslie Victor (Ali, the Hindoo), and Mr. Fred Cambourn as Mr. Armitage (a juror). Miss Dorothy Dix, whose fine costuming was a feature of the piece, at once favorably impressed her audience as an accomplished and beautiful actress, and Miss Susie Vaughan, the only other woman performer m the play, performed as Mrs. Staunton (the housekeeper) an arduous part with credit. Other roles, all of which were very creditably interpreted, were those of Mr. Scott-Wilson (Mr. Walter Howard), Dr. Watson (Mr. Boyd Irwin), Mr. Longbrae. the coroner (Mr. Winter Hall), Mr. Armitage, a juror (Mr. Fred Canibourne), the" Coroner's officer (Mr. Chas. Day), Mr. Brewer, foreman of the jury (Mr. Arthur Glyn), Billy, page to Sherlock Holmes (Mr. Ray Seaton).