Lists (None yet)

Login to create lists

Tagged (None yet)

Add Tags

Comments (None yet)

Add New Comment

No corrections yet

KING'S THEATRE.^

-t

"WniTlü AUSTRALIA, OR THE

EMPTY NORTH."

\Yni in the air, with all its rich molo dramatic clements, furnished Mr Randolph Bedford xvith a mainspring foi his Aus traban play "White Australia," giv en with elaborate attention to mechanical and sceuie details on Saturday night al the King's Theatre in the presence of a great house that cheered it repeatedly on its way, especially at the perfervid patriotic moments with which it is abundantly pep pered The first two acts deal with the descent of Japanese ti oops on Port Dar v» in together with the spying and ticachcry of their leading officer Aimed directly ngamsl it nation w ith w Inch w o aro at peace, and which is, moreovci, Britain's ally, this is suielj somewhat ."out of bounds ' Hie English censöi of pla. s x\ ould not permit of the invaders in Mnjoi du Manners drama representing anj partiouhii nation, und the foieign anm, as reconsidered served the nebulous ' Lmpress of the North " How over, the Australian tensationnl dramatist, like the sapper, can can e Ins w ay to fame without the necebsitj of holding anything i- icred cn route, md willi Habakuk is 'capa bli of everything '

'J he story is n simple and direct one bul it is KUI rounded walli a multiplicity of de- tail that at times clouds instead of help mg, the issue, in fnct Mr Bedfoid has given the pli .goer a plethora of riches th it he linda it hard to digest Manv of them can be pul on one hide altogether and others-notablv the two torture scenes-re duced lo a minimum This done, and some of the jingoistic Australian speeches sub dued, the drama will knit plnj closer, and use without lundianee to the final catastrophe \

The du cet line of the plot concerns an unship invented by a joung engineer and capable of cairying enough explosives to destroj any fleet The delicate machinery can onlj be operated by a crjptic kcj, and on the possession of tlus by a Japanese spy the whole current of the drama hinges

The spj knows the power of the airship, and knows, too that the Japanese fleet will not be safe when it enters bvdnoy har bom foi the purpose of bombardment The Rpy has stolen the kev but bribery, thrcnts tortnre, row aid all fail to maka either the engineer or his sw ecthonrt giv e up the word that will make the key cficctive, and m tho final act the airship hovering over the Tapaneso war vessels, drops uncr ringi} explosives on each, sending thcin to the bottom oue In one, a very sinking nnd wcllainnged effect Incidental, there is the murder of a telegraph operator on the overland line, an citatic and strangely conducted battle at Port Darwin, 'white against jellow and brown men," a scene in an .opium den, black tracking, assassina tions, rescues and Bomo taking balmd-Mng mg, one number ' Mine, for I"vor Mine," being given bv _tiss Bedfoid, and "Aus traba, my Beloved Land," by Mr C A

Ledw ard

The two antagonist» Jack _t_n.qu.rio_, an airship mventoi and Yumamoto Japanese spy, are played by Mi Roy Redgrave and Mr llnrrj Diver, on brondh effective lines that keep the bouse highly entertained whenevei thev meet and port-the final separation sending the spy to earth from tile auslnp cal Mi Bert Bailcj bas evolved a blackfellow as curious as he is enteitaining, and nB ho gives the aboriginal dialect with a Scottish accent it makes 1er nbil all Hie more humorous The Inn toi's part is again allolled to Air Lawrence Dunbai whilst amongst the ladies, Miss Helen Vigors led as A'ictoria Pearse with Mu. Kate Gair as hci eompa non, and Mi*s Lily Brvor a confumed opium smoker In eluded in the minor stndies, may be men lioned with credit the Quong Ping of Mr T II Nunn, an ov erland telegraph operator bv Mi Stilling AMijte Mr lemple Uni

nson's swatman, and Mi Max Clifton a stockman Hie plav has been remarkably w eil mounted, and the scencrv does A.r R Robins much credit espemil} the jungle ut Port Darwin the bael ground m the first scene, Aigvle Cut, Svdnev (showing the effects of the bombardment), and the liar hour The small nu ship model too, has been veiv carcfiillv followed fiom photogra pine onguials, and is well handled

The drama, which was enthusiastically received hy an immense house in high spirits, will be repeated each evening until fuifhci notice_

Zoom

plus
thumb
minus
left
thumb
right
up
thumb
down