ENTERTAINMENTS.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXVII, Issue 2418, 5 February 1909, Page 5

ENTERTAINMENTS.

'“MISS LANCASHIRE LIMITED/’

There was a, if'air 'attendance iat His Majesty’s Theatre last night on the occasion of the second ,p er for m a nee of Aliss Lancashire Limited by Miss 'Florence Baines and her company. The audience were at times convulsed with laughter at the quaint sayings and mannerisms of Miss Baines as the “Lancashire Lass/’ and her songs ivere enthusiastically received. Her singing of Tosti’s “Good-bye” was a special! feature of the entertainment, and Mr. Bert. Burton was encored for his viola solos. The performance will be. repeated in the theatre tonight and to-morrow night. There is to he a change of song programme each night. A NIGHT WT BURNS. Miss Jean Howison, of Perth, Scotland, will give a dramatic-recital from 'Robert Burns, in AVhinray’s Hall, tonight, at 8 o’clock. This notice is from a late number j»f the Wellington “Times” :—“A brilliant interpreter of verse, a cultured student with a gift for exquisitely, sympathetic treatment, Miss Jean llowison entertained a large crowd in tiio Town Hall by a lecture on Robert Burns. Possessing a clear, buely modulated voice, and an ability for clear and accurate enunciation, the talented iady was heard in every part of the building. Her style was .forcible in its easy grace and impressive digutiy, and the silence which was maintained throughout eloquently inti cated the magical influence exercise.i by Miss Howison, as she filled the hall with the melody of Scottish 'song. Verse, anecdote, and biography v ere blended with charming facility, and the genuine, wnolc-souled enthusiasm with which the theme was invested was delightful. She showed that Burns glittered with no ilustre but his own, and that his genius belonged not to Scotland, but to the world. Possessed of a soul capable of appreciating the highest poetic expression, Miss Howison \s heart seemed on fire with love for the poetry of her native land. Some few perhaps, may call her an enthusiast on Burns, but before the evening closed she clearly convinced tier hearers of Burns’ genius. Prose and poetry, fact and romance, were charmingly blended in her lecture. As iii weaving the colors in the cloth, so the humor and pathos of Burns, like lights and shadows, were woven into her lecture.”

AVAL ANDERSON\S DRAMATIC COMPANY. After an absence of several years, Mr. William Anderson is coming to Gish rno with hvs Dramatic Company, who ere to oj on a short season with “The Squattc As Daughter.” This play, which th ugh nominally wriftei. by “Albert Eci minds/’ is the joint work of two < i the clever members of the company. : s .no of the most realistically Austr !i; u plays yet staged, a nd has enjoyed :i popular run through the Commonwealth. It as as easy to burlesque the Australian ibushnvan as the Irish policeman. “The Squatter's Daughter” is not a burlesqueit is a natural, realistic play, built round the love of a sweetly womanlly woman, and a sturdy, manly man. and its pictures of station life between Bathurst and the Jenolan Caves are. real. Its staging is said to be very fine. The. Waterfall Gully, the Eucalypti Gorge, the Jenolan Caves, all lend themselves to produce a series of pictures which Australians will delight in. Then there is the sheep-shearing contest in which sheep are shorn in view of ,the audience, and a host of exciting adventures, including some realistic bushranging work. The whole formes a tout ensemble that every one can appreciate. The Gisborne season will commence on Wednesday next, February 10th and will extend over four nights. Each night a new production will be presented. The other pieces to be staged are “'When London Sleeps." “The Face at the Window,” and “Thunderbolt.” The prices will be 4s, 3s, 2s, and Is.