[Illustration: CHILLY FORECAST FOR AN "INDIAN SUMMER."
_Nigel Parry_ Mr. ALLAN AYNESWORTH. _Helen Parry_ Miss EDYTH GOODALL.]
Unhappily Mrs. HORLICK has much to learn in stage mechanism. The motive of her exits when, as constantly, she wanted to leave any given couple alone together, was insufficiently opaque. She began very well and held our interest closely for some time; but long before the end we should have been worn out but for the childlike charm and attractive _gamineries_ of Miss DOROTHY MINTO as _Ursula_. Mr. ALLAN AYNESWORTH, who acted easily in the rather ambiguous part of _Nigel Parry_, seemed to share our doubts as to the chances of Mrs. HORLICK'S achieving popularity at her first attempt, for he confided to us, in a brief first-night oration, that she was engaged on another play which he hoped to secure.
But no one will question the serious promise of her present comedy, and I trust that in any future production she may be assisted by as excellent a cast. For they all played their parts, however trivial in detail, with great sincerity. Miss GOODALL was the only disappointment, though the fault was not altogether her own. At first she was very effective, but later her entries came to be a signal for gloom, like those of a skeleton emergent from the family cupboard.
All is fair in Love and War, and the only ethical difficulty arises when they clash. This was the trouble with _Vladimir Igorievich_, heir of _Prince Igor_. Father and son had been taken in battle, and were held captive in the camp of the Tartars; but, while _Prince Igor_ felt very keenly his position (though treated as a guest rather than a prisoner and supplied every evening with spectacular entertainments), _Vladimir_ beguiled his enforced leisure by falling in love (heartily reciprocated) with the daughter of his captor, _Khan Konchak_. An opportunity of escape being offered, _Prince Igor_ seizes it, but _Vladimir's_ dear heart is divided between passion and patriotism, and before he can make up his mind the chance of freedom is gone. A study of the so-called "libretto" showed that this was the only thing in the opera that bore any resemblance to a dramatic situation. Figure, therefore, my chagrin when I discovered that the character of _Vladimir Igorievich_ had been cut clean out of the text of the actual opera. I could much more easily have dispensed with the buffooneries of a couple of obscure players upon the _goudok_ (or prehistoric hurdy-gurdy), who wasted more than enough of such time as could be spared from the intervals.