J. C. WILLIAMSON'S COMPANY

Gisborne Times, Volume IX, Issue 833, 6 March 1903, Page 2

J. C. WILLIAMSON'S COMPANY

A BRILLIANT DRAMATIC SEASON

The exceptional demand for seats at the box office augurs well for the forthcoming season of drama by Mr J. C. Williamson’s English and American Dramatic Combination, and a record audience is assured for the opening performance on Monday | evening next, when the sensational dramatic success, “ Sherlock Holmes,” will be presented for the first and only time in Gisborne. The second production of the season, “If I Were King,” is said to be one of the most thrilling and, from a spectacular point of view, beautiful drama ever staged in New Zealand, There is one scene alone which never fails to call forth the most vociferous applause, and which in Australia could not find satisfaction until the artist, Mr John Gordon, had made his appearance several times before the curtain This is the rose garden of Louis XI. of France, showing the stately facade of an ancient Frenchmansion, with terraces beyond dappled with sunlight. Another excellent exhibition of artistic colouring and fidelity to Nature is afforded in the Fir Cone Tavern, a suburban Parisian wine shop or auberge, at which is seen assembied a motley crowd of ‘ culhons and cut-purses,” bullies, wantons, thieves, swash-bucklers, and murderers, dressed in the pictureeque garb of the period, which is 1450. There are several other delightful scenic presentations, the beauty and pleasing effect of them all being considerably enhanced by the startling rapidity or suddenness with which the changes of scene are accompushed by the stage mechanists. The play itself is also remarkable for three or four magnificent tableaux, in which the chivalry and turbulence of the fifteenth century are embodied with romantic and stirring effect, so that alon^-H 01 T w dl3p i a - V and ata ß e effect onn 1f If - Vere Kln S will be found equal to anything ever introduced into this YnrW y ‘on? ran [° r 8 whole y e « in New t ’ , a ° d on b . eln ß transferred to St. James Theatre, in the English metropolis, it proved the success of last year’s London season, which fact induced Mr Williamson o promptly secure the Australasian rights for a pretty stiff figure. Expense, however, does not count with this experienced entreprenuer when he sees sterling merit in a play, and the great success “ If I Were King ” has achieved in all the capitals of Australia, and the principal cities of New Zealand has shown the wisdom of his investment.