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ENTERTAINMENTS.
THE THEATRES, &c.
Eileen Oge," being a good, taking 80rt nf
drama of tta kind, has continued up torn,
present, to maintain the interest wita ,5"?
ft b«a».
an excellent opportunity to a fairly.quaiifil*
company, seeing that the characters Jl
contrived as to distribute the effecUvewE
pretty evenly, without allot ting an immoderate
Shaw to any one actor. It would, thus
hardly serve to present a star, for he wonM
have to take his place with others, and conlS
not tower above the rest, as is the custom
with stars in star pieces. "Eileen Oge!"
therefore, although not a remarkable drama
in the way of showing unusoal skill, either
of Invention fn construction or power in cha
racter-drawing, has the merit of popsessm?
actable qualities, and probably would have
held its ground longer if an arrangement had
not been made with Mr. Dampier to reappear
to-night. We can, however, readily enoneh
give up "Eileen Oge" to see Mr. Dampier
again. And, considering the interest he has
just recently called forth in Sydney, and the
good practice he has had in perfecting him.
self in parts which, so far as we here are con.
cemed, he had only just commenced to deal
with, we may expect to find that his general
intelligence and the particular enthusiasm
with which he applies himself to the con;
sideration of the highest range of dramatic
creationp, will have rendered him more apt
to deal with them according to their more
subtle indications. And then we have some
right to look upon Mr, Dampier as belonging
to Melbourne. For, although he had gradu.
ated with honours in his art before he came
here, he bimself will hardly refuse to admit
that, doriDg tbe three years o! hiB hard
work at the Theatre Royal, although the
urgency of hiB duties left him but little
time to apply himself to the more deli,
cate process of finish, of which works
of dramatic art, like all other art-works,
admit, he had nevertheless a valuable, be.
cause varied, opportunity of applying himself
to the consideration of characters widely
different in their meaning, and, therefore,
representing in themselves good tests for
trjiog the powers of an actor. Certainly no
two points in the histrionic scale could be
more wide'y apart than Quilp and Hamlet,
and yet we all know how well Mr. Dampier
acquitted himself in each of these characters.
And between these extremes of poetic lofti
ness and melodramatic whimaicali ty, he played
parts of almost every kind, and of many de«
grees of their kind. I take it, therefore, that
in Melbourne, at any rate, we know exactly
what Mr. Dampier can do. We are sure of
his never falling below a certain minimum
of excellence, and from all we have heard of
what he has accomplished in the eight months
that he has been absent from us, we may
be equally certain that he has used thi* time
so well, as to give him a still more sufficient
claim upon our favourable regard.
AttheAcademyonSaturdaynight "TheTtro
Roses" was put upon the bills again, and the
burlesque of "The Orange Tree and the
Humble Bee," in a.modified form, retained.
" The Two Roses" bears reproduction very
well, especially with such actors and actresses
in it as compose the cast at this theatre.
The more one sees of Mr. Walton the mora
one discovers his genuine to recogni.
lion as a high-class actor of .genuine comedy,
more especially whatisunderstood as eccen«
trie comedy. And I do not think that as yet
we have, by any means, seen him at his best.'
Of lfr. Thome's individually excellent q&ali.
ties,one might say a good deal withoutsajiog
too much. No doubt his real effectiveness
lies within a certain range, but then so does
that of all actors, only there is this pecu«
liar quality about Mr. Thome's acting, that
if all the characters he plays seem to partake
of his own idiosyncrasy, he neverthe*
less makes 900 satisfied that the idiosyn.
ecasy ia in soma way, also that of
the characters themselves. And yon
cannot but admit that he thoroughly
relinquishes his personality in the parts ha
undertakes. Take for example his Heathen
<«hinSea&dlACUebI)eiBcie. If you saw him
iday tbese two characters on the same night,'
and werexiotAssused that they were both
done tjyfcbjs same actor, youwould have soma
difficulty in believing that they were so.*
Take also,, if yon will, Us '.Widow Twankey
ana Us Grist the Baker. You could not
possibly have a better illustration of op«
posttes than is supplied by tltese two parts.'
In the one you have the completeneca of
what I may tpn» Nue-noeed, sniffing garm«
;lifa, |$44nAhe other you get a good specimen
ofpoijitiveDlutfneBS. Looking'atMr.Thome
inthe character of the page he is now plAying
in the,burlesque, yon would hwdly deem him
capable tofrepresenttag bluffaess; and yet if
you -Saw hje Griet, yoaknow bow well hs
sflwatid thisldea. > Son, ftarefore, cannot
help joining to the conclusion that he ia one
of tbpeelntelligent actors of the true stamp,
who think out 'their q'wn conceptions, and
do not take, on trust, tin notions of other
P*6$lfe. ?'??? r.;V ,*
On Thursday iiight the management, in a
spirit of commendable loyalty, added to the
exuaywanaa * pictorial finale> artistically
executed, by Mr, Grist, being the allegorical
lepresentativee of the five divisions of tbe
globe, with appropriate groupings in the form
of a medallion. It was extremely well
mansged, and did Mr, Grist much credit.
Miss. Stafford, the coitumitre, is also to be
fav^ujably mentioned inoonnexion with this
living alto-relievo for the caw with whicji she
prepared, the drapery.
On Saturday night, at the Opera-house,
Miss Lewis appeared in "La Fille de Madame
Angot," and on Tuesday she took her benefit
and played the Grand Duchess. Of her
Claire I have nothing to say other than
what I have already said. I like it as little
as I did the first time I saw it, and I perceive
no difference in the direction of improvement
from the very unacceptable version with

which she presented us some months ago.
Concerning the Grand Duchess, of the several
representatives of the character who have
played it in Melbourne since first the opeta
was produced at the Princess's in February,
1871,1 have seen but one who has satisfied
me, and it is she who then first played it
namely, Madame Simonsen. We have had
something like half a score of Grand
Duchesses in Melbourne, beginning with
Madame Simonsen and ending with Miss
Lewis. It is not necessary just now to
specify their several merits and demerits.
Like a part of Mr. Venus's collection, they
have been " various," bat if they had to be
placed in a list, in the order of their excel
lence, Madame Simonsen's name would
stand at the top of the list, and Miss Lewis's

at the bottom.

As if taking the colour of their merit from
Miss Lewis on Tuesday night, the other
ladies and gentlemen concerned in the repre.-
sentation were for the most part ineffective.
Mr. Templeton, as General Boom, was
curiously uncertain what he would do, and
how he would sing. Miss Lambert might
never have appeared in the part of Wanda
before, and even Mr. Bracy, as Fritz, was not
up to the level of his previous excellence.
The Maids of Honour had altogether the
best of it, and of the Maids of Honour Miss
Wooldridge took the fiist place.

On Tharaday Miss Lewis played Mari-
tana. It was, if possible, less endurable
than her Grand Duchess. The essential
quality of this character should be its
simplicity. Miss Lewis thinks differently,
and makes it one mass of irritating affecta-
tions, vocal and histrionic. Mr. Beaumont,
as Don Caesar, made some amends for Miss
Lewis's eccentricities; bat nobody else
made amends. Miss Lambert especially was
the most joyless Lazarillo one might wish to
see or hear. It was a good thing that " Mari-
tana" was followed by part of "La Peri-
chole," with Mr. and Mrs. Bracy, to help to
send away the audience in other than a
desponding frame of mind.

The U.S. MinBtrels have been joined by
Mr. Hudson, who has returned to Mel
bourne after an absence of some time, bo
that, with Mr. Bent at one corner and Mr.
Hudson at the other, the fun is well kept
np. Mr. Bent gets a good deal out of the
mock speech he delivers as the barrister de
fending the chicken-Btealer, but he would get
a good deal more if he made the speech
pointed as well as emphatic. In the bit of
absurdity, " He Would Ba an Actor," the
pursuit with the razar is rather too blood
thirsty to be acceptable,even in a black farce.
A large jack-knife would be better, and the
pnrsnit might be explained with some Bach
remark as "He's mad r I've heard that
bleeding is good for some kinds of madness !
I'll Meed him!" The chase would then
have a sort of colouring of probability. As
a matter of fact, no call boy would ran after
a tragedian with a razor because the tra
gedian had Irritated him with "passionate
speeches," bat a call boy struck with the
necessity of phlebotomising a lunatic for his
good,in all probability might draw his pocket,
knife upon him. On Tuesday Mr. Amery
took his benefit and had a good house. Mr.
Amery has had a place in the musical circles
of Melbourne for many years. In the old
days of the Philharmonic Society, when the
Philharmonic Society was a power in this
city, and its meetings used to be held in the
Exhibition-building, where now the Uint
stands, Mir Amety had a position of con
sideration of which a good many who hftve
come after him do not wot. voice're
tains plenty of its power, and although he
has been absent a long time, and although
he has elected to sing behind a mask, of
charcoal, he has plenty of claim upon public
aupport for all that, and he will hold his
ground for some yean to come. Mr. Holly
was to take bis benefit last night,

Last Friday, May 18, there was "a
musical and dramatic performance" at the
Athenffium of an exceptional kind ; for, with
the exception of Miss Christian, ail the per.
formers were amateurs, and were members
of the University, A still more exceptional
circumstance was, that there had been hardly
any advertising, and yet the house was fall.
And it'was fall of the best kind of people;
just (he. people one likes to meet; people
*hwe claim to consideration consists of
?omething more than Artificial social distinc
tfon. For I take it that every year increases
the somber of those who, in one ynffoi (an
other, arenuiisoaatta with the Univerdty,

pUl 5ome to ropreeenta st
r. Wfroaeinfluence is of the jhig
" ' ' "neif, bountry like this;- wl

lualificatioais so conttnuall
and wealth on the

-jp- -JpWf ori the othcir, .raspectiv,

. no means in association, agrei __
!fra£ thbse wha tew their claim i to

.wtdn 'JVtajf. 'a&demic distinct on.

- . thii taneert was M no

?xaMively pf awlative kind.

aufflenoe had boretason £b regret having,
and eveolf it had not teen known
the j^fom<«. with the one exoeption.
amateurs, I think the audience would

***7 aathfifld. For among (the
vocalists was Mr. Andrew, of the Wariey

and he/aiire all know, not onlyjhas
* deep Jichjnritoha voice, but has a mufioal
knowledgs piid musical taste which f
fiood jpaoe with his established eminent!
the higher branches of learning, Theini
mentalists Included Mr. Pirani, the lect

cn logio. who is a very capable pianist, and
Mf- RndalJ, F,H.C,S. JSng., who, bet ides
being one of the best physiologists on [this
Bide of the equator, plays the flute as i' he
had devoted hla life to doing nothing i ilse.

.?-hat there should be a seasoning of the <w mic.
eleaoent was only in accordance with the
well-understood principle of variety, and Mr.
Taylor supplied this item upon the pro*
§>amme. Miss Christian had kindly ooo
eenttd to sing two songs, and Bhe sang Eour
--namely, " Old and Grey," " Oh take nie to
toy heart again " (as encore), "The Moqnte
®»nk," and " Only" (as encore). That

sbe sang them with tenderness and trie'
dramatic expression is only to ii| thikt
Miss Christian song them, and that thiy
called forth the strongest expressions of
satisfaction was only to be expected with
Bach a singer and each an audience. To the
concert followed a prologue, written by Mc.
Wall. ItwasclBMic&l.pointed, and rythmical.
To the prologue succeeded the old farce of
" A Regular Fix," in which Messrs. Taylor,
Perry, Noel, Barker, Ochiltree, Springthorp,
Woinarski, and Stout showed a very capable
knowledge of the art of amuBing an audience.
The object of this entertainment was to raise

| funds for the purchase of an eight-oared boat,
I and I am glad to know that the sum raised

| will cover the amount required. I am aware

that exception has been taken to gentlemen
connected with the University raising
funds in this way. I confess I see no
objection to Buch a mode of getting
money. Amateurs are continually called
upon to give their services in this way for
benevolent and religious purposes,and if they
should. now and then vary the exercise by
doing good to themselves, there is small
blame in the act. Learning, according to the
proverb, may be a good deal better than
house and land, but in this part of the world
I am afraid it does not help to either, so that
if the alumni of our academic halls Bhould
find it convenient to exercise their musical
and dramatic talent,in getting together af und
for a particular purpose, they have plenty of
reaBonin explanation, and, for the matter of
that, good precedents for the practice.

Mr. 'Wilson's Circus, which, with reduced
proportions, has been erected in Lonsdale
street, where Ghiarini's stood, was to have
been opened on Wednesday night; but the
weather being, as nsual with Mr. Wilson,
not propitious, the opening was deferred

until to-night.

Mr. Liddy has Bent me another volume
of his Lorgnette playbills, being those for
the month of April. Of the .value of these
as records of the theatrical and musical doings
of the period, I have already spoken. Bat
thin little publication contains from week to
week a very readable digest of stage news;
and, knowing as 1 do the trouble involved
in collecting together matter of . this kind,
and the care required to ensure accuracy, I
am the better able to speak of the value of
what is thus supplied. The Lorgnette is the
best playbill we have had since the late Mr.
Robert Bell some years ago discontinued his

issue of the Programme.

TAHITR

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