"OUR BOYS."

Waikato Times, Volume XXVII, Issue 2202, 19 August 1886, Page 2

"OUR BOYS."

I delievk I but give expression to the opinion of the large majority of tho.se who gathered at the Oddfellows' Hail on Tuesday night, when I say that the entertainment wa* one of the best of its kind ever witnessed in the Waikato. Speaking for myself, I am bound to say that I have never seen anything so good, not even in the best days of the Comus. Of course I *peak » n a . £«n eral sense, and without reference to individual merit, because we all missed the face of one distinguished member of that admirable organisation. There was moreover, a flavour of the Comus throughout "Our Boys," which showed plainly enough where the stage manager had received the most valuable part of his training ; and while on this subject it is as well to say that, so far as the audience can judge, the management was almost faultless. To say that there were mistakes is to say that the actors and the genial manager himself are human, but for a first night (and amateurs always labour under the disability of first nights) there was really no fault to find on reasonable grounds. The .stage looked as . well as ever it did, there was a sufficiency of light, and the costumes and get-up of the performers left nothing to be wished for. I shall not attempt to give a synopsis of the comedy, as everybody knows, or ought to know, that it is one of the most popular ever written, but will content myself with a brief reference to those who took part in its performance. The ladies were particularly good. They both looked and acted well. The part of Mary Melroso was acted with a spirit and vivacity only too rare among amateurs. In the scenes with Talbot Champneys she was especially successful, and did not miss a single point. The part of Violet was marked by that quiet dignity essential to the part, and every word spoken was clearly and distinctly I heard. The lines had evidentally been carefully studied. Clarissa found an able exponent, who played the part to the life, while Belinda was the very beau ideal of lodging-house servant*. It is quite needless to say that Mr T. G. Sandes, as the Butterman, made a hit. From the outset he was en rapport with his audience, and through his varying moods, from grave to gay, from lively to severe, he kept the audience in a continuous bubble of merriment. Mr Templer, in the character of Talboi, Champneys, treated the houss to a finished piece of acting, and I cm give him no higher praiso thau that, while Mr Steele gave a g*od readinjc of the part of Charley Middlewick. -The part of Sir Geoffrey Champnevs, played by Mr Greville Smith, was delineated to the life, and never during his numerous nppearane&s before Waikato audiences has tnat gentleman achieved a greater, or I might say so great a success. His dressing of the part was good, his acting could not have been improved on, and to his judicious training of the company must in a gie.it degree be attributed the" undoubted success of the performance. Miss Misseii deserves much credit for the admirable manner in which she carried out, unaided, the inu.sical pait of the programme. Taken either as a whole, or in part, tho performance was, I repeat, a most .successful one, and I tru^t that the ladies and gentlemen forming the company will ere long give us another exhibition of their undoubted talent. Claikrkau.