“OUR NAVY.”

Gisborne Times, Volume VII, Issue 378, 1 April 1902, Page 2

“OUR NAVY.”

A GREAT SUCCESS,

A crowded house greeted the first performance of “Our Navy “ at the Theatre Royal last evening, and the = large audience was in every way charmed with the entertainment provided. Long before eight o’clock there was a great rush ,at the ticket office, and later in the evening many were unable to gain admission, standing room only being available. The entertainment was of the best kind seen in Gisborne. The sailor’s lire, wita its moving incidents by field as well as by flood is depicted from the cradle (which is the training ship) to tne grave, and it would he necessary to reproduce here the whole of the brilliant descriptive lecture delivered by Mr L. N. Butler: to do the subject full justice. If there is unity in the general theme there is the richest variety within the limits laid down, and we are shown not only the stern hard side of the sailor’s life, hut its pathos —its human and its rollicking delights. Such animated pictures as depict t'ue unfurling of topsails, scrubbing deck-,, gun drill, heaving the lead (the oesv we have ever seen), are interspersed with the sailor’s farewell to his sweetheart at the old mill ( an excellent transcript Irom life, background and all) the sailor’s return, the cheap shave, washing day, mending day, and dances of various 'kinds (with real dancing in perfect time to make r.he illusion more complete). Then there

are scenes showing the men rushing to general quarters, physical dr.il, and a hundred other things. But delightful and destruetiveas the.se are, some Will prefer the magnificent repres3.Va.tbrs cf the mighty units of our Navy, the battleships, cruisers, and torpedo boats and “ The Magic and Mystery of the Sea.” The speed of the torpedo coats is shown with startling effect, while while the manoeuvres of the stately I battleships, in storm and calm ere re- • produced with striking The ■ yacht and boat racing as well as I cycling gymkhana, in which the wives and daughters of naval officers took i part, formed interludes of Ibe lighter sort which served to relax the tension of the audience. Features of yet another sort were provided bv ideal pictures oi the Victory,'and England s naiTffl hero, and of the fight between Sir 'Richard Grenwille and the -Spanish fleet at ‘ ‘ FlorhS in the AzorsMr Butler’s description of that heroic combat was admirable, and Ins rendering of Tennyson’s' fine lines worthy of the poem. The liie of the candyman was followed in a rapid series of still and animated pictures. The incidental songs contributed b« Mr A. J. Gromann, who has a fine baritone voice, were thoroughly appreciated. Without exception they were given from behind the screen. His numbers meludei “ Rocked in the Cradle of the Deep, “ The Anchor’s Weighed,” i! The Diver, '"d many others. The mchameal effects were exi_. The manipulator of the small attraction. _ '"'“■m, thoroughly pictures, Mr H. Wynau_ -**He en-, understood his business. The wtertainment was a complete success, anu thero should be another crowded house this evening,