THEATRE ROYAL.

Thames Star, Volume VII, Issue 1903, 8 February 1875, Page 2

THEATRE ROYAL.

Notwithstanding the miserable weather which prevailed oa Saturday night the Theatre Boyal was crowded to an extent not witnessed for many a day before. The patronage which our theatre-goers have accorded to this place of anmsejrient during the past week is unquestionably deserved of the company ,who are performing there for a short season, and on Saturday evening, when the burlesque "Poca-hon-tas" and "Andy Blake" were produced, the fact was made apparent that Mr De Lias the manager has .brought .together a theatrical troupe; collectively of a very ■uperior kind, and with whom he is enabled to produce pieces of lan extremely opposite and diverse character in the profession with great success. The good old Irish drama -of * 'Andy Blake," it may be confidently affirmed, fell short of no representation previously made upon the colonial-: stage.The play is so well known and universally liked that there is no necessity to speak pf its plot, which de.velopes such exceedingly,, beautiful traits of Irish character. Misa Amy Stone sustained the role of Andy,, with her customary display of, finish.. But it is of Mr Oily Decritfg whom we should particularly speak. His General Daly was a very masterpiece. Scarcely could be, fancied—in a fancy never so elastic—a better description of a choleric, gouty,, but noble-hearted old soldier than was given by Mr Deering in the character of the. General. Mr Deering is a truly fine "old ihdn," to speak in professional phrase. His pathos, and humor/ irascibility of temper and gouty eccentricities, as the , General* were so perfectly natural as to make it obvious that such, characters as these are his particular forte. *Miss Clara Stephenson played a very natural Lady Mjountjoy, the fashion-swayed old dame to whom blood is everything, and obtained a fair share of the applause liberally accorded during the evening. Mr Aveling is possessed of a gentlemanly bearing address/ ;anid^ as "Diok Daly acted naturally and well. Mary, the injured girl, whose poor heart Dick has obtained possession of under disguise, was represented by Miss Fbley. The other characters were well supported. " Poca-hon-ias "* is a highly attractive burlesque, in which there is a racy American element apparent, and the humor is occasionally very fine. The plot is excellently worked out and comprehends the difficulties in a love match between the daughter of an Indian chief, one fl. J. Pow-ha-tan'l. and a captain John Smith, bearing out the truth of the old adage that the "course of true love never did run smooth." There were many difficulties in the way of producing such a burlesque in so short a time, as it will readily be understood, but no pains having been spared by the management, the result was very successful, and the- "effects" so inseparably necessary to burlesque, reflected credit npon th,e scenic artist, Mr Kemp. The character of Captain tfmith was taken by. Miss Stone, who made as charming a little captain as might be, and displayed further attractions as a versatile actress in her conception of what is required of a burlesque actress. Miss Patty Holt gained a flattering opinion— amply manifested in the usual manner— on her appearance in the character of Pdca-hbn-tasy daughter of the implacable old savage, who would consign her to. marriage with one other than her choice. Possessing genuine female charms, a very pleasing voice, and dancing abilities which excited loud plaudits from Saturday night's audiencej Miss Holt is unquestionably a great acquisition to the company, and but for the occasion offered in Poca-hon-tas of coming to such a conclusion, the fact, might never have appeared to the publip so forcibly; it is to be hoped, therefore that che management will see its way to giving this lady^andi others an ©pportunity of playing again in burlesque, than which nothing in this age —though it be a degenerate taste—is so thoroughly appreciated. Mr Oily Deering's make up and acting in the character of the Chief above mentioned was capital; and the same may be said of Mr .Stone as Mynheer Half, a claimant for the hand of Poca-hon-tas, and a very corpulent and funny old foreigner. Messrs .t. Sweeny, C. Holloway, H. Aveling, J. Jeffries and W. Harrison each impersonated minor Indians of different consequence, and followers of the great Pow-ha-tari I. Mr Sam Poole took the part of an interesting female of .the bread-and/butter age, and his make-up was very'clever. Under the category of "Interesting offshots "of the first famalies: of Verginia Misses Kate Foley, Jinkins, and Deering appeared; and Mrs C, Jones gave a very comical rendering of the character, As-cross-as-caa-be, an old lady whose chief business appeared to consist in the chastisement of the, Interesting Offshoots. Many capital local hits were made, and several references to JN"ative affairs were very cleverly introduced, and much appreciated. We are pleased to observe that the management has been induced by the liberal patronage accorded during j the last six nights, to prolong the season of the company a short time, and will present a new and very attractive feature to the Thames audiences, namely, the Girard Brothers, whose performances are spoken of in Australia and New Zealand as being very astounding. To-night Boucicault's drama of five acts, "The Long Strike " will be produced.