A BOLD ACTRESS.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 1, Issue 106, 29 May 1880, Page 4

A BOLD ACTRESS.

Calais just now teems with recreation} and its inhabitants have enjoyed an op* porfcunity of witnessing a performance least as sensational as that of the cannonball catcher at Berlin, or the female projectile who was fired through a net at the Aquarium the other day. A theatrical company and a travelling menagerie compete nightly for the favour of the Calais public, and it recently occurred to Mdllc Josse, a rising young actress attached to the former troupe, that a great success might be achieved by combining the attractions of the two establishments in her own person. This happy thought she proceeded to realise by obtaining permission from the menagerie proprietor, M. Bidel, to enter the cage in which his lions habitually reside, and there to declaim Victor Hugo’s “Caravan.” Bidel, as ■ might have been expected, jumped at the notion, stipulating, however, that he should stand by the side of the bold damsel during the recitation, as a taste for poetry had not been sufficiently developed in his lions to assure him of their good behaviour as auditors. The performance came off' a few nights ago ; and it appears that Hugo’s inspired numbers exercised so depressing an influence upon the lions that they never once, throughout the reading, offered to investigate Mdlle. Josse’s merits as a comestible, but expressed their sympathetic interest in the proceedings by a few appreciative growls. Perhaps they recognised Mdlle. Josse’s claims, as an indisputable “ lionne,” to be considered one of themselves.