mitchelson hill (3 risultati)

Theatre handbill, one page, The Dennis Trent Repertory Co. Season.

poster from the Theatre Royal, Rochdale, Lancashire. A long format playbill, blue ink on white paper, small hole where poster was hung on a nail!

Hand Lithograph. Condizione: Fine. Strafford (illustratore). 1st Edition. a fine example of the original chromo lithograph for the famous mystery fantasy play in London circa 1900. "Who is She". written, produced and directed by the famed E. Hill-Mitchelson. a tour de force of the British during the Gay 1890's from 1890 to 1914. This is a rave review for another of his plays of the same period. MUSEMENTS. THEATRE ROYAL. The first production in Adelaide of "The French Spy," a drama of many excellent features, was exceedingly creditable to the management, and was heartily enjoyed by the large audience which filled the Theatre Royal on Saturday night. Mr. Holloway, during his recent visit to England, secured the right to produce the piece in Australia, and in it his company certainly appears to advantage. The dramatist is Mr. E. Hill- Mitchelson. In order to secure stirring situations the playwright may have wan- dered considerably from the realms of the probable in search of the sensational, but the plot is cleverly conceived, the grave throughout is leavened with the gay, and, what is more, vice is, in the end, vanquished by virtue, the demands of justice are satis- fied, and the deserving enter into unalloyed happiness. The house fairly revelled in the different developments, and followed the fortunes of the leading characters with feverish interest, deriding the wicked and applauding the good. To describe the plot in detail, with its many striking episodes, would be a large contract, and it will be sufficient to state that the French spy is the Countess de Loriac; that she is connected with the theft of important dispatches from the British Embassy at St. Petersburg; that she falls in love with, and is loved by, Cap- tain Somers, an English attache; that the captain, in order to recover the documents, strangles the supposed thief; that the pa- pers are discovered in the possession of the countess; that the captain, to shield her, states that he entrusted them to her safe- keeping; that the countess rather than de- nounce the captain for the strangulation be- fore alluded to, blinds herself, so that she cannot "see" the guilty man, thus literally complying with an oath she has taken; that the countess is thrown into a dungeon, there awaiting death; that the captain and a trusty Irishman-the Hibernian Hercules, disguised as monks, enable her to escape, and that eventually, after the sightless woman has felt the pinch of poverty in Paris, she finds her way into her lover's arms, by which time all who have endea- voured to encompass her ruin, have been satisfactorily disposed of, and her faithful attendants receive fitting reward. The various characters, and there are a large number, were well sustained. As General Trepoff, the chief of the Russian police, Mr. Charles Holloway appeared to advantage, both before and after he was brought to earth by his own sword, when the countess was rescued from the prison cell. Mr. Harry Diver came in for much applause as Captain Somers, the constant lover, who triumphed in the end. Mr. C. R. Stanford appeared as Count Romanoff, the arch villain of the play, and that he performed his part well was indisputably shown by the hearty manner in which he was greeted by the gallery whenever he ap- peared. Mr. J. P. O'Neill was responsible for much merriment. He impersonated Terry O'Fritz, the strong man from Erin, and was always in effective evidence. He was here, there, and everywhere whenever wanted, and he had the sympathies of the audience from start to finish. His oppor- tunities for scoring were undoubtedly great, and he made good use of them, evoking thunders of applause, especially from the gallery. Miss Ida Gresham was the French Spy. The countess, of course, is very pro- minent in every act, and Miss Gresham comported herself in a style which thor- oughly satisfied the audience. Miss Alice Deorwyn was given a hearty reception as Julia Simmons, of the Music Halls, the lady who ultimately determines to give up a life of frivolity and gaiety and marry the man of might from Ireland. Miss Helene Burdette played Olga Petrovna, a Russian lady of rank, whose jealousy of the countess Fix this textreveals her cruel nature. Mr. Edwin Campbell appeared as Lord Aynsley, the British Ambassador at St. Petersburg; Mr. Q. Kingstone as Lieutenant Maxwell, the Ambassador's son; Mr. Frank Elmore as Petross Romanoff, who meets an early death; Mr. William Taite as Viscount Alexis, a Russian Johnnie; Mr. Geo. Chal- mers as Nicholas Knibbs, a Cockney waiter; Mr. Max Clifton as Mark Revelski, a police spy; Mr. A. H. Lloyd as Alexandroff Sobir- ski, a Russain frontier guard; Mr. Geo. Heather as Carl Schwartz, a German fron- tier guard; Mr. F. P. Crofton as Conrad Nagele, an officer of the Russian police; Mr. Dundas Walker as Gustavi Tolstoi, a waiter at the cafe; and Mr. J. F. Young as the servant to Count Romanoff. In addi- tion there were plenty of diplomats, gen- darmes. &c., the cast of characters being a particularly long one Interestingly, where authorial attribution is provided, one is faced with a number of surprises: Shakespeare's name appearing only twice in the first and second dramatic season considered, ten times in the third and fourth, and fifteen in the fifth, and, more generally speaking, being soundly beaten in terms of popularity by lesser known figures such as Matthew Gregory Lewis, William Rowley, Edward Stirling, Henry J. Byron, E. Hill-Mitchelson and the like. Size: Elephant Folio. By the Artist.