ENTERTAINMENTS.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LV, Issue 140, 31 October 1912, Page 4

ENTERTAINMENTS.

"NOBODY'S DAUGHTER." Tlio two-nights' season by the Plim-mer-Deuniston Company opened last evening, when "Nobody's Daughter" was staged and met with a splendid reception. The Theatre, was filled, and the piece, which was magnificently put on and faithfully pouriraycd by a clever lot of actors and actresses, was much enjoyed.

The play is a cameo from real life, with all its intensely human errors and emotions, touched finely with the Divine attribute of forgiveness. The story was followed with great interest. Two young people, in the flush of youth and passion, have loved "not wisely, but too well," overstraining the bonds of parental constraint, and thinking nothing of the future. The man goe.s to India in pursuit of his profession, and rises to distinction as a soldier, winning his V.C., and attaining the rank of Colonel. The girl becomes a mother, but is able to hide her shame, and, consigning her child to the care of a trusty servant, re-enters her world, and wins the love of a genial and honest .soul, with whom she is entirely happy. Her quondam lover has also made a marriage of affection, and when they meet again they realise that their passion was but a flame which burnt fiercely for a moment and exhausted itself for ever. Jim the child remains, and constitutes a difficulty which will not permit the pa-t to be forgotten. Honora .May has been brought up in the village of Brambleside by the faithful servant, a woman of sternly Crdvanistic principles, whose conscience will not allow her to reveal a secret she has promised to keep, but who is continually moved to bear testimony against the sin she covers, and who is strong enough to make effective protest against any neglect of the child she loves. The child grows to young womanhood, and loves a young mechanic, who. with good prospects before him, is anxious to make her his wife, and she is ready to cross the sea with him. Parental pride rebels against this proposal, and it is arranged that there shall be a probationary period of six months, which shall be spent by the girl in .Mrs. Frampton's home on the outskirts of Wolverswyck. Honora finds the new conditions attractive. Her mother is able to give vent to some of the secret cravings of her nature, and bestows 011 Iter child innumerable presents, while lier husband, in genial unsuspicion, is ready to constitute himself a new relation to the orphan girl. It is his irrepressible good feeling which springs the mine. In his desire to retrieve the loneliness of her position he cannot be restrained from searching out the mystery which surrounds Ilonora's birth.. He discovers that his wife's explanations and those of Uncle Jim are unreliable, that their stories will not bear examination, and he is met with a stony refusal from Christine Grant to throw any ligljt on the matter. Then, in a flash, the conviction of the truth conies upon him; he accuses "his wife and his friend, and they are reduced to & silent confession of their sin. When in a paroxysm of rage he springs at her friend's throat, and his wife casts herself wailing at his feet, the scene rises to a pitch of intensity. In the final act a quieter tone prevails, and the note of pathos is sounding. The husband is brought to helieve that a fault committed before marriage is a mistake which can be pardoned. Honora is allowed to be happy in her own way, and the curtain descends on an atmosphere of forgiveness. The portrayal was in the, hand of true artists, who did justice to their work. The east was as follows: Mr. Frampton (managing director of Wolverswyck Pottery Works), Harry Plimmer; Mrs. Frampton. Mrs. Robert P,rough; Colonel Torrens (commanding the regimental depot at Wolverswyck). George S. Titheradge; Mrs. Torrens, Beatrice Day; Tony (their son), Cyril Bell; Honora May, Lizette Parkes; Christine Grant, Tempe Pigott; Teresa Ilolrovd. Beatrice Usher; Sir Jasper Mnrchmont. A. E. Green away; Will Lennard, Harry Sweeney; Maid. Dora Deane. TO-NTGITT.

This evening Messrs. I'limmer and Denniston will conclude their season with a production of Oscar Wilde's brilliant comedy. "A Woman of No Importance," with Mr. Geo. S. Titboradge and Mrs. Robert Brough in their original parts of Lady Illingworth and Mrs. Arbuthnot respectively. The play, though brimful of the sparkling epigrams and sparkling dialogue which has made this gifted writer's work so famous, contains a plot of absorbing liuman interest. The cast will be an exceptionally strong one. Miss Beatrice Day is said to have unlimited opportunities in the part of Mrs. Allenbv, which she makes the fullest use of. Miss Lizette Parkes wiTT appear as Miss Hester Worseley, a young American, and the rest of the cast will include Mr. Harry Plimmer, Mr. Harrv Sweeney, Mr, A. E. Greenawav, Miss Beatric Usher, Miss Tempe Pigott, and Miss Ena Collins. The plans for to-night's perform, ance are open at Collier's.

I EMPIRE PICTURES. A magnificent new programme was submitted to a very appreciative audience at the Empire Picture Palace last night. A wonderful film, taken under the patronage of the United States Government showed a number of interesting scenes on the Panama Canal. In this picture one sees all that is to be seen in connection with this stupendous piece of engineering. The film shows the excavation of the canal, the building of the huge locks at Pedro the great dam at Gatun, the great "Culebra" cut, where huge steam navvies shift the earth at the rate o.f several tons a minute into trucks, and the 'almost human-like work of the track shifter, a machine running along on rails which shifts tram lines to a new bed by steam labor instead of ■manual labor, which would take more days to do the same work than the track shifter takes minute*. This film is doubtless one of the most interesting ever screened in this town. Besides this, a picture showing man's lust for gold Was also screened. Two mates, Tom and Bob come into possession of the plan of an old gold mine. Bob takes the plan and determines to find and keep the gold for himself, but Tom follows him up. After many adventures Bob manages to give Tom the slip and finds the mine, but Tom manages to strike on Bob while the latter is at work. Mud with rage and jealousy, lie kills his one-timed mate and himself with blasting powder. This picture showed to what depths men will descend in their lust for gain. The "Sunset Gun" was a pathetic drama showing the last days of an old Civil War veteran. "Paid Back" was another notewortliv Selig film featuring Miss Kathlvn Williams. In this picture Nemesis overtakes the guilty party after a lapse of many years by the hands of his own grandson. A very interesting educational picture, showing the animalculae of our lakes and ponds, was screened, and a series of hilarious comics completed what was one of the best programmes yet submitted to the Empire patrons.

THEATRE ROYAL PICTURE?. The pictures will not be showing at the Royal this evening, but will again occupy the hall to-morrow night, when a complete new programme will be shown. The new programme includes a big 3000 feet star drama entitled "The Better Way." On Monday night the new management are making a change in the film

service, successful arrangements having been made with the "International Pictures," better known as "The Greater J, D. Williams Amusements, Ltd.," to gupply two programmes weekly for the Theatre Royal.

"OX OUR SELECTION." Mr. Jack Fanning, who is well-known as a theatrical advance agent, having toured Australia almost constantly for the past 30 years, is now travelling ahead of the Bert Bailey "On Our Selection" Company. He is making arrangements ■for the production of the now famous Steele Rudd drama in all the principal centres in Now Zealand, and will be here in due course to attend to preliminariec in connection with the staging of the piece locally.