AMUSEMENTS

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXI, Issue 10713, 7 December 1912, Page 5

AMUSEMENTS

"ON OUR SELECTION."

j The Bert Bailey Company -will arrive in Masterton on Friday next, December 13th, for the purpose of : producing Steele lludd's great work, I "On Our Selection." There has never ', been a, greater success for many 1 years than that attained by the Bert Bailey Company during their recent season at the Palace Theatre in Sydney. Night after night throughout the whole season hundreds of people j were turned away. "Had the theatre ; been available "On Our Selection'' ' would have been a payable proposition for at least three months. It ! was truly the- talk of the town. The : jokes and the laughter-raising incidents were told and re-told both at iiotel bars and Y.M.C.A. meetings; every one had Steele Eudd's delightful work, every one had a bosom acquaintance with "Dad," "Mum," "Dave," "Joe," "Sarah," "Kate," f.nd "Sandr" ; but it was a different thing meeting them in the flesh. Bert Bailey and his clever company 'nave stepped out of the pages of the book. Author Steele Rudd remarked to an intc.rv'e.wer, that they had absolutely caught the whole spirit. The characters as played on the stage were the. very types lie had had in mind, make up, voice, sentiment, gesture." everything was just what way wanted, "f wouldn't change «, line of the play," said Steele Eudd, which is a <r eat tribute to dramatists, Bert Bailey and Edmund _ Duggan. The company have just finished the 'ongest run of any piece in Auckland —fourteen consecutive nights. The production will he exactly the same as in that city. The box plan is at tho Dresden.

MAS7ERTON PICTURE GOMI»AN>

The star picture in tho Masterton other items of the programme are night iss said to he startling. All the other items of tlie programme a' perhaps going to fall away before it into a dim forgetfulness like the stare before a bright full moon. It is entitled "A Legitimate tells a tale of two women and, incidentally, the husband of one. It lifts the veil upon the power of woman — upon tho infinite superiority of the female mind over mere male matter. It shows the appalling length, breadth and depth of the unscrupulousness of a really unscrupulous woman—the ■slenderness of man's vows of undying fidelity—his infantile impotence when Sex assails him with her full batteries of heavy artillery. The effect . which, thiy startling new drama works upon the mind of the onlooker is quite unusual —almost unnatural. Tt begins creeping upon one incipiently, progresses uncannily—eerily—discomfitably. And when the last swift tragedy, which vindicates her of the plain gold ring, has happened/ and one has heard the shots and ?een through the window blind the silhouette of a. tapering foot and shapely lower limb slide solemnly shoulder high past the vision, one feels moved and shocked and awed and shamed that such things can be. In the presence of such a masterpiece, no need remains for mention of the rest of the programme. On this grea+ drama alone, which may be the talk of the town, the new programme car stand on its trial. There will possibly be a run on the seats to-night.

TKCMPBOW-PAYNE PiCTUREC

"VENGEANCE IS MINE."

The new programme of pictures at the Foresters'. Hall to-night' will include the great three-act drama "Ven geance Ls- Mine." ,This picture is an exceptionally fine one, the acting being sniperb, and the photography of the best. The plot has been well thought out., the climax being of a highly sensational nature. It is certainly the finest drama the Nestor Go. has produced. The picture is 300 ft long, and is such a meritorious production that it should not be missed. Supporting this.* special are a number of excellent dramas and comedies. "Sheriff Jim's Last Shot" (Vitagraph), "The Passing Shadow" (Es«may) and "The Price of Art" (Selig) are three splendid dramas. A number of screaming comedies will also be shown. The children's matinee this afternoon, should be largely attended, as tbo programme is a particularly fine one-.