The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1887-02-26 00:00:00

OLDSWINFORD AMATEUR DRAMATIC
SOCIETY.

The members of this society have for some time
past been working up and studying viith unremitting
energy Dion Bancicault's oelebrated Irish drama,
in 4 acts, entitled the Shattyhraun ; and on Monday
and Tuesday evenings last they presented it to fair
audiences in the Infants' School Room, Oldswinford.
The scenery was pretty and the stage was nicely
draped round, the only drawback from this point of
view being the insufficient lighting of the room.
Tee costumes were suppliei by Mrs. W. Patch, and
the wigs, &c,, from Mr. Coombes. The society
ate-Jared the services of Mi,s Katie Richards for the
o !casions, The following is the caste: Captain
Nlolineux, a young English officer, commanding a
t'etachment at Ballyragget, Mr A. Riddle ; Robert
Ffo:liott, a young Irish gentleman. under sentence
as a fenian, in love with Arte O'Neal, Mr. J. Hall;
Father Dolan, the parish priest of Suilabeg, Robert's
tuter;and guardian. Mr. J. Pearsall; Corry Kinchela,
a squireen, Mr. Wm. J. Young; Harvey Duff, a
police agent in disguise of a peasant, Mr. T. Wall;
Conn, the Shaughraun, the soul of every fair, the
the life of evety funeral, and the first fiddle at all
weddings and pattens, Mr. G. H. Hall; Sergeant
, Joues of the 41st, Suilivan, Mr. G. Goodyear; Reilly
Mr. J. Hall; Mangan, Mr. W. Lamb; Doyle, Mr.
W. Will'amson ; Arte O'Neal, in love with Robert,
Mies Lizzie Phillips; Claire Ffolliott, a Sligo lady,
Miss .7. Goodyear; Mrs. O'Ktlly, Conn's mother,
Mr. H. Rollason ; Moya, Father Dolan's neice in
love with Conn, Miss Katie Richards. Mr. Riddle
presented a very military appearance, and in con-
nection with Miss Goodyear caused no small amount
of merriment by their love making. Mr. J. Hall
gave a good renderine of his characters. Mr. Pear-
sail's "make up" and demeanour were consistent
with the character he had to pourtra,y, and acquitted I
himself creditably. The personage assumed by Mr.
Young could not have been in abler hands. 1 e
appeared to have the words always ready, and hardly
required the prompter. Mr. T. Wall was perfectly
sure of his portion, and credit is du 3to him The
impersonation of Conn was of course &lotted to the
promising young amateur, Mr. G. H. Hall. His
rendition ef the part was far above the average, his
knowledge of the brogue, and the manner in which
he appeared to grasp the nature of the situation
appealed to the audience and frequently elicited
rounds of applause. He entirely dispensed with
the services of the prompter, showing thereby that
he was quite competent to dispose of the arduous
task which devolved upon him. We hope we have
not seen the last of this lyoung gentleman, and at
no remote period to again see his pleasant face in
another enterprise. Messrs. (loodyear, Lamb, Rol-
Pfson, and Williamson represented the minor parts
fairly well. Among the lady artists Miss Richards
stands first for a meritorious representation of Moya.
We always experience much pleasure in witnessing
this, young lady's abilities On Monday and Tues-
day she fully sustained the good report circulated
anent her. Possessed of a fair share of beauty
she at once captivates the audience by her pleasing
voice and charming manners It is impossible to
repress a smile at her little tete-a fetes with Conn.
S le gave the utmost satisfaction, and those present
showed their appreciation of her qualities by fre-
quent clapping. Miss Goodyear still retains the
old fault of speaking so quiet, inasmuch as her
voice was scarcely audible half-wry down the room.
Being by no means a bad figure, we do not see any
reason why she should not greatly improve her
voice and learn to move with more freedom. It is
the first time we have seen Miss Phillips but we
were favourably impressed with her. Her delivery
w a firm and free from hesitation, and her aCti ne
were easy. and devoid of stiffness. On the whole
we do not think the performances were hardly BO
good as the "Ticket of leave man," but the play
is rather difficult although to see it performed it
does not seem so. The proceeds will be devceed to
the funds of the society, and no doubt they would
have been eensideraby augmented had there not
been so many counter -attractions.