THEATRE ROYAL.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume XIII, Issue 4290, 9 December 1892, Page 2

THEATRE ROYAL.

Mirth and Mystery.

The second of the Steens-Smith entertainments in Mastertou, took place at the Theatre Royal lust night, and was, if anything, more mysterious and " wonderful than the previous exhibition, Despite the faot that the Professor explains most dearly that he ' does not claim supernatural aid for anything Madam Steen or himself may do, some of the tests and experiments'were so astounding that people really thought some unseen influenoe was at work, assisting the Professor ■ in his. magical marvels. As on the evening before a committee from the audience was first chosen, the gentlemen selected being : Messrs F. G. Moore, A, R. Bunny, A. Hathaway, F. von Reden, W. (J. Cargill, and 0. Haines, After the Professor's introductory remarks Madame Steen took her seat near the centre of the stage and was blindfolded by Mr von Reden. Then each member of tho committee was ' handed an envelope containing a blank piece of paper on whiob each was requested to write the date of bis birth, ibis done, the envelopes wero shuffled and one drawn out at random, tho lady at once deolaring who it belonged to, and supplying the owner with a few historical particulars regarding his nativity, which he had not written 1 down on the piece of paper, and bad very likely forgotten, if lie ever knew. People were spell-bound and began to wonder how ever it could be done, and the more they puzzled the more mystified they got, Mind reading extraordinary, impossible card trioks and lightning calculations followed. Then by special request the nevor beaten" Knights Tour" on the chess. board was again given, The moves were made almost faster than they could be followed on the board, and at tho conclusion Professor Steen offered £IOO to any person who could execute the same feat with his eyes open and the board to work with. . As ii further exhibition of their remarkable powers, the Professor nnd Madame Steen were both blindfolded and then performed some truly remarkable oard tricks and thoughtrending tests. The more one seeß of Professor Steen, the more mysterious he becomes; greater wonders are introd aced at each entertainment than were produced at the preceding one; and so it goes on from stage to stage. Professor Steen is a kindliearted man,' and probably does not care to dive into his deepest mysteries at a first entertainment, without preparing people for .tho shock by giving them something a little nearer the bounds of possibility first, The crowning feat of last night's performance was perhaps the wine and water illusion, and yet when the Professor li&d explained the whole tiling nothing could be simpler, and everyone in the • Theatre went away feeling he could do it. Everything was done with romarkable easo and precision, and although tho Professor undoubtedly does send signals to Madam Steen, tho sharpest and most critical person in the audience could not detect the methods.

At iljb conclusion of the Steens part of tlio programme, Mr Oscar Smith took up the running and succeeded in keeping everybody in a bubble of merriment with his ventriloquial act, which in itself is well worth the price./ ol admission as an exhibition of what can be done with the buuian voice, llr Smith is a veritable Valentine Vox, and from what we have seen aud heard ho could probably givo the original Valentino lots of points and beat him atthegame. To-night will ba the last opportunity of attending one of tho hest entertainments ever given in Masterton, and we certainly say ( . " don't miss it."