THE THEATRE.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 9, 5 October 1907, Page 5

THE THEATRE.

■ — —« r,';'Tho Play's the Thmg."-Sl la kospoare s r ' By "Sylvius." - , "Mother Goose." • , ; ';■ "Mothor Goose," most 'wonderful-. , ., 0 f all..pantomimes, from a'.financial . .point ofJ view, is ...still packing .the Opera House nightly, and even at.. .matinees ..the audiences bulge over to: take in the, smartnesses ,spectacle,. _ ,and physical .displays with which the entertainment abounds. 'The public■are, singularly, unanimous in voting • the., show-one of the brightest that ' : 'the Dominion has over seen, not that. _ 'the; cast of;'characters _' reeks; 'with ' stars," but because each performer does well w hat he or sho is asked. -:to .;■ witlr. praise-compelling precision ■ and verve,-and without drifting into ■ "the'.mechanical 'as' one' might expect. sifter'such a; long run. -Tho panto-, ■ r , n,in >.?- will be.,played,.,until Wedhes-',' , day next to .enable those, who ; have • -hot yet seen it to do so. ' •He would Bathe.. "' Mr.' Claude Bautock has achieved a;"new; fame' in consequence of the theft- which deprived him of most of: his-portable property a' few days ago. His little' adventure has been des■'described; at.length in the daily press, and -his-' remarks thoreon reported verbatim. One thing'that the losV has-done for-liim is to givo hini-'fur- ' the'r..'proof of the goodwill of his friends-: who. clubbed togethc:! ari'. presented, him - with . a gold : watch, chain and sovereign case to take tho -place of''the ones he had lost: The ' ■' case -boro tlio "■■ words, "To Banty, from his pals, No. 9, Nine Quid." : Tho last four words, refer to a chain of curious coincidences which have ■altered Mr. BantockU ideas with re- • "gard -to- unlucky; numbers. His case,' ■which contained nine sovereigns,' was stolen from his room (No. 1 .!)) at the ■hotel at 9.-o'clock on the 9th Septem- ■ | ber. "I'm not shying off 13 any lon--gor," said Mr. Bantock •in comment .'on' the 'coincidence. ■■■, ••;■ ■'...: ~. • . 'Tiie.Sandow Girl. • Melbourne has' been: much' concer-. •Ned as .to whether the Sandotv- girls, . ••.who • "1ako:. such an- effective • •ground for , Miss, Fauuy Dango % 3 ■"i.irical. description of. that damsel'in "The Dairymaids"-,are true to type. -Some declare that they are not, and demand a lady of ,the large ..and heavy"'-.order, " wf4h a plcntitudo. of. proportions. But apart altogether from the authority'-.of. the ■ ifongj which -describes her as .smooth and slim..' and .-supple, we have it on the word of -Mr.'.'Sandow himself .that these characteristics arc the ones:ho. favours. He went to the trouble a year, or.<two' ago,■ of writing. a "re-, ferencp" , for . his star, pupil, .Miss Maud; pdell,;...\yh6m .die .described, as ..tho' porfectien, of'.'feminine' h'ea'iity. -Now;.Mi'ss^.Odell was certainly'jof ','the v, ; illbwy,..tyi)e.'' ' ' ■;■'■'.•" . '• giiesti of^Ka-nod-no.''-. '■'.'/■■' i.. •' Miss Edna "May. has .been chosen '. Queen ..oHtthe Ka-noo-no Ka'rnival, • uvhich is.-to ■ be;-.held -■ in' hor.homo city ' .•of---'Syracuse, !> Now -York, next"'. September. ' Miss May .was . born,' m Syracuse,.. and. lived 'there until, she i-went'.".on. -the..., stage to ( Vwin fame in Tho-Bcllo of Now,.York/ It isunder--1 stood-,that Miss- May, will:, not refuse •tho-.highly-sought-.honour, aiid. : .tha't\ ::sho.;:ivnd her .husband,, Mr. .Oscar . : Lewisohn.- will.. ;go ', to. America".': to . ; take -.part. in .the. carnival,. which-' is- ■ ..held... during. Stato..Fair.'week. , .. ; •• A. Barbarous Joke. ' '"" ' ,> "Reynolds" has an ■ aneedoto v/hich heeds: -substantiation,- but is: , worth. quoting for ' its cleverness; The ' writer .says:—Mr. G.ecrge. Alexander ' - ; is -milch 'tfotibled by amateurs,:' who ', ■'believe- - themselves "born for tho'staijo and-.who'conic to him for advice.! One "6f''these;- thd sciou of a' noble family, ; whoso'talent'is patent only, to him-, -.self; '■ was'--- continually.- pestering Mr.' Alexander, and.' various.; were .-'tho " ruses'; 'which':- the '• latter adopted'- to : ''evade' him;; I ;';'' Walking '• along 1 . • the • Strand oncday-Mr.'Alexander espied ' the ; would-be-. actor ' hurrying towards 'him."'Thero seemed'to be no way; of. ■'escape:.- ■>&■; barber's '-shop, however, handv. and .into this 'Mr'.; '.-Alexander.'d'ashed.' --.To .'the.-astonish--'•'mentvpf'jtho'proprietor and"his-as-. •'sistants; -ho • seized-'-an • apron that lay' on. a- chair, tied;;it.'round'him, 'and ! ,commenced'to lather one of'the •customers ;.i' assiduously:-. - : Meanwhile '•liis'-£ormoritcrV,entoK!d\.the shop,;, and ; looked'round.;- "Pardon' me,"lie 1; re'marked'to 'the;proprietor, "Ithought 'I' saw; Mr. ■Alexander come -in"hero, i'but ;I must, have -been.-mistaken," '■and-' out<''.hc-vWalked;-A.'muchr.' to-;-tho ■'manager's: satisfaction. ~ •',•- , ■' Walter'Datser. ■-;■• Walter Baker, back in Australia, looks, (rather' the worse ;fqrv his health ..excursion. Ho went- to rojuvenate, 'and'..returns' 'looking 1 old, thin, and . a 'limping victim' torheu:(iriatism v ; It'' will; probably be a- long ./tirap. bofpre he 'faces the floats again, . , but';, his- absence., has-,'brought.', "to , '.ma'u,Ti'.,p,cqpl.e a ..knowledge of , his. and:, usefulness.'/..; When- an ~,'actor. ' was .'wanted ;for : the -part : "Thd ;"Boiidman, •' a • ' .part';Bakpr. would 'have'' filled admir- , .'ably, manager Holt had to fallback on', ,70-year-old' ■ George " Rignold—a .' are' scarce. "■'';'■' '.Sunday 'Shows. '" ,;.' v ;■; ~; The High Court, has .upheld the appeal of.. the Fitzgerald s Circus people against the .Victorian Judge .•who-,fined- them £650 for giving a .'cash, entertainment on Sunday. -The ■ situation ..was/ this: - Tho .entertain- ■ ment was "free" in the sense that you could get into a. certain part, of the promises without-paying. Then you met a c'ollectiou-plate, and by an ''adequate contribution thereunto, you • could, get into the resorved seats. •;Still,--you could seo and hoar tho -;porfonnanco from,..the , part of • the premises, and' Justices Griffith, •Barton, and-O'Connor, held that ;,this ; constituted ■a, free Sunday, entertain- . ment.• Isaacs and Higgins'dissented ..on.-the ground !th'at, by this process ~of,reasoning,:there might be a ; speck of -free spaco in tho ; least desirable , • part .of'thohouso, while thero was a , charge for all the rest of the building; thpy held that this made tho ■ Sunday law a joke.. ..;,.'■ The Stage In America. ' .'■".-... "Of course," says Mr. Henry' Arthur Jones, in an interview in the ■Daily Chronicle, "people will' say tliat/I liave : personal reaE.h\its.V» r or '•■ praising America. I most certainly have. NoMll tlie less, it would bo my conviction anyhow that there is more life, ■ more vigour, more relation to actuality and tho national '.. character about the stage in America than' there" is "over here just now. The-' drama 'is ' more part of -tho people's"cxistoncc, and, good or bad, they tako. it more seriously. I"',don't ' contend' that' at this 'moment America is prod vicing better plays than v:c' are. But it will, if things go on as- they .have done. Theso dramatic' '. ■•classes fovwinstancc, that' have been ; i-.startcd •at the American: universin ties are by no means incro crankish .-pedantic affairs. They arc most ' •sensibly conducted. ■ Tlioy will not ■ make ■ playwrights, of course. But' - if thero. are any young fellows'with n,the .heart of the. thing in tbenvtliese .classen will -bring them along and save them years of unacted,. barren ' -.failure.. Moreover, I would''still wat:or that Ngw York acts its uat- I

lonal theatre long before Londqu - does. There was, I happen -to ij. know, a considerable deal of truth ■:' behind the .rumours! pf the 'million- ''■.'■'■; aires' theatre' for which it was pro- - ' posed to entice Mr. • Granville Bar- ' ker over the Atlantic, as producer.. - 1 I understand, too, that the scheme ;j' ; is to be gone on with. As for tho ..i . £20,000,000 trust.,, of which' fchdru '■ < : i . has been so much talk during these -I past few days, I cannot see that '^ there is anything to fear in it.'. Great '■'• art' though it is, the'; drama ' must 'j • bo conducted ,upon business lnithoth.'' ;i . Under the present-circumstances, :i practically every new. play of. .any -'''\ ambitions costs its . £1000" a week. -• Accordingly, anything" that makes .for ii more 'competent " business-manage- ■•■ mont must have a good effect. -,80 .ij far'ns I can see, the long run system ii —which is the fruit : of so many" evils .', —might bo less -necessary under., a ■': big trust than under" a smaller .'speculator who needs to'make his immediate profits. From the purely .:' artistic point of I don't; .think . ; ' .there would bo much change—at, any ;i , rate for the worse—if the trust did "■! come. Anyhow, you have the curious : '■■'•' fact that until tho' trusts arrived the •. ;i ' American drama was but a.'.:poor ':! thing Now it is showing genuine ij . vitality. . ■ '~; , . ~., r . jj A Busy Man. ■'.■'>:'. ' ;j '• 'Mr.'J. A; E. Maldrie 1 ; whoso 'busi- \ ."''■'! ness is increasing 'by leaps'and. ' !| bounds, is no longer■; able to <repre- .■'.■• sent the' London interests of Messrs. • ! l 8.. and F. .Wheeler.., 'Mr. . j! young will, therefore,, now represent .'■ :.;' the South African firm, his address '. : j being Daly's . Theatre. ■ Mr; Malb'ne'- ■ is Mr. J. C. Williamson's rcproseri- • tative in London. , Mr. .T. B. Young visited New Zealand ,as manager for . . ..-.••j '.Miss Nance O'Neil; "■"'"', . ]■ " ! : . ■■;! ','.... . .LITERARY'kpTEG.;; ; :^' : ' .' , . ' ,\ •_ The house of E. Grant Richards.has ■ . 1 .in preparation a ,: . volume entitled '■■'■: "Bernard Shaw: A Monograph,"; by . ■-. '; Holbrook Jackson, . irr: which ' tho V - author has tried to solve the vexed ■ ,' question, "AYhat.does. Bernard Shaw ''.''! moan?" " .'.':'." ' '.Tho Planet publishers have issued the great preference debate.at.the reosnt Colonial Conference as a :. sixpenny pamphlet. The. debate, V,in . which all the. leaders: of the Colonies . , and Mr Asquith, Mr'-'Lloyd-George, ~, '.- • and Mr Winston Churchill took part, ■:.is brimful .of interest, and/ informa- ■■ ' : tioil. ■'' . . :; . ,-' .'• .';,■ <.'.,- '~".• ;. - A new monthly review called -"the , "International". is, the London'"Na- ,' . ton" learns,- to make its appearance . this autumn. Tho ilesjrt of the promo■ters is an ambitious loss ' •■'■■'-: than a monthly account of, tho pro-. . gross made in all fields of human,ac- ' .-, tivity throughout' the world. "They ; contemplate issuing three separata.'. : ,' editions, to bo puGlsLed .in London, Paris and .Berlin., respectively,. arid :.. there are to bo over a, hundred-cor- ... respondents on the. permanent staff , who will write short monthly reports of the chief events arid signficaiit intellectual development's'in their:-re-,- ." spective 'countries.- i^Aniongst->the -.";'. '.English writers who vail act as corres- * V 1 p'ohdents'to the now review arei'Mr ''.Sidney Webb, Mr. H. G. Wells,: Mr.' ".'J. A. Hobsonj Mr. 'A. Shci-well,'and Mr J. Ramsay Macdonald. TheyEug- • liali edition is, we believe, tp.boVpu.o- . ' -lished by Mr. Fisher tinwin. }...-.;' ■■' '"'. .' The text.of Lewis -i. Carroll's.; child- , rcnV classic, "Alice in. Wonderland," goes out of : copyright'- this -year.. Meanwhile a miniature,edition of the i book' is announced at ,\a, shilling jiet . / .by' Messrs Macmillan. .It has all-Ten-. '■ •■■ uicl's' illustrations, •",and they',', of .jconrso, romain copyright. _ ■■~'.;.;. i, The appearance of .a..biography, of ' tlib authoress of 'ITho.-.Wide.-.'Wide. ■ EWorld"—the book that.every girl-has ' ■ •■wopt' ovor and that is■ chiefly distinguished as the only novel that ."absolutely beat" -Andrew, Lang w.hcn he •tried to read it—has brought to'.-light . tho fact that it continues to have: a large .sale. One publisher alone ia , ''able to dispose of 3000 copies a year! ' Mr Swinburne .contributes to ' the Fortnightly .Review . for, September: a memorial poem of abrtut a' hundred : :lines on tho death of ( Karl Blind! ■ It :. .gratefully records, the fact that" if. '', Was to Karl Blind that tho poet 'was indebted.for his introduction to'Maz- , .-"zini-. • • -:'r ''.'.'■- ■ ';''.'. ' Mrs Corhwallis West, formerly Lady 'Randolph Churchill,' is"'\yriting'' - her memoirs, which will; be published simultaneously in England and' the 'United States next yean"l . ■ r : . .■.'.-'; .'■; A ; sketch of. the yauiig Kiplngi'ap-. :.-'' pears in a-recent number ofv';the ~"Captain" as the first-of a series.on ' ~, ''Famous Men at School:" Westward- v "Ho. is the school, which of course,is (described in. "Stalky and Co." ""'Kip■ling 'was at this.school from. 1878,t0 .1882, and the College -'Magazine-''foe 1 .: :thoso years is; withTiis-verses^iii'it,^.''' '. '■ abnormally >. valuable,' £130 .having;] .>. ) been paid.recently for : one'of.the'two •'.sets known:to exist.''Kipling was;not' ; : 'distinguished as a scholar-and,.won . ■only one prize. Partly because ■-.-. ;. ,was short-sighted he 'did not.-oxceT.in ■ ■athletics in general, though ha.'was^an 1 ! •■;■, excellent swimmer. Ho ; was.npt,popu- J lar, says the .writer —a, verdsbt v ;that; ••'/.- iwill be confirmed by Westward Ho-ians. • Tho other •,:.,.•;■•• cit seems, being, mostly'army officers,-' sons, rather looked..-., down jiipoa'') . ; .'.[".Gigs," as they nicknamed Kipling, ; V • who .was the son of a civil seryant, arid would probably■ becorne one.hhn-S Lself. 1 ; ■■ . ...- ■-,■?■. ; ,v