THE THEATRE.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 722, 22 January 1910, Page 9

THE THEATRE.

The World's a theatre;, the' Earth a ■ 'stage.—Heywood. ; ' . ■- .

(Br'Sravros.)

"Tho King of Gadonia." ■ On Saturday next, January 20, "The King of. Cadonia"—the-first of the new comic operas, to be staged by Mr.. J. C.' Williamson's Now Comic Opera Company -will bo presented at tho Opera. House, •ino work, which is tho joint creation of bidnoy Jones and Fi-cdnrick Lonsdale, has been the success, of two London sensons at tho Prince of Wales's Theatre, whero it is, still nihning.. At tho rising ot the curtain the kingdom of Cadonia is rent with internecine strife upon -.tho question whether it should havo.a.kinc or not. Tho supporters of the. constitution insist on a monarch,-but no sooner is tho rightful heir. discovered than the .members of tho anti-king leaguo havo .him assassinated. For some time beforo tho play- begins kings havo been removed at the rate of one a month, and tho vacant throne- is. not run after. King Alexis, however, accepts tho call to dnt.i% and strikes out.on now linos. He resolves to disguiso himself, go among his subjects and find .out their grievances. His disappearanco, is', fraught with: uncom-. fortablo consequences, for the Duko of Alasia, as heir presumptive, finds hinteelftho chief object of the anarchists' attention. This pai't, it is said, gives Mr. -Eert Gilbert the chanco of his .life. The opera will introduce Mr. Gilbert, an old favourite, Mr. Herbert Clayton, Mr. Frank Greene, Miss :Dorothy Court, and Miss Lottio Sargent, who were engaged in London by Mr. Williamson. There aro over 100 .'people in the production other than principals.: • Mr. Fritz Hart, the eminent German conductor, will direct an augmented:, orchestra. / There /is a grand operatic chorus, and a: cpmplpte corps'-do: ballet,, and the dressing and mounting of the: opera are freely spoken of by Australian critics as, being little short of magnificent. The "King of Cadonia" will.be,played for the.-first nine nights of. a nineteen-nights' season; ■

Miss (Catherine Grey. '■;•'" •,' ' Miss..Katherinp Grey, the. American .actress, who has. been', imported from America by Mr., J. C, Williamson ■ is desbriDed by a correspondent: as of the petite and chic order.'; Sho has .played successfully in .several modern American plays and rives evidence of being..a very talented; littlo" lady. It is under-' 'stood that, on her account, the,production of "Henry of : Navarre"; has been postponed in order-to give her a.more fitr ting opportunity to appear in a rolo suited . to. -her capacity and past 'per-, formances. . /This she; will.'receive' in Klein's comedy "The Lion and the Mouse," a'play -which has been, a big succes? in America, and ..which '.was lauded '.by the London' critics, in ehthusiastic phi'aseology. A. correspondent sends . the;: tollowing from , Sydney:—"So many difficulties avose when the matter of presenting "Arms'and the Man" at the Sydney,. Theatre.: Eoyal, iras more thoroughly investigated, that.it has:been deemed absolutely-necessary to delay the production for tho' present, ;and, accordingly "A Eoyal Diyorco" v;as revived for a. fortnight'on Saturday (Januarys)., Mr. Knight,..of,course, filled'his , well-known, and lmich. , appreciated irole of Napoleon; and Miss Beatrice Day was.,.seen once: more \jith the company as the Empress. ■Josephine. / The next', piece .to bo given' by tho organisation will be "The. Lion and tho.Mouse" which; should create ,ad-: ditional interest'. from tho fact ..that- it will be the medium'by whicS'Miss. Katherine Grey will, make her first acquaint-, ance with an "Australian audietice: .The, play,' which is. by, tho well-known •Amerk pan " dramatist—Charles'. Klein-fcontres' round, a , very interesting plot'.and shows' how an' American ;nlillionau'e;' whoso- chief characteristics' are avarice and Agreed for money,; is checkmated at his oven game by the young girl whom ho. employs ■as his secretary ■"and who "is: in love., with tho rioh . man's son. Mr. Knight is toplay, the part of the millionaire and Miss.Grey that of Miss fioEsmoro, , the secretary."

News from.'Chicago.. .'..'■■■■ •'■:;•; :''.An. I '. Australian- girl writing from Chicago to : "Johanna;"-' of the "Bulletin,' , : tolls, of thei -.play. -.."-A. Pool There /Was:? Xott,.rcnM)i^oerluplin»'s>verses, : on,BuTneJones's painting, "Thb Varnpire"■■—':,".;■' A'" fool , there was,, and lib made his .; . .'. •■' . (Even.as you and.l). .-',. '■-, .' i To a rag and a bone and a hank of: hairrWo called her the .woman, 'who- did. not care. But the' fool, ho called her his lady, .'.'. (Even as you'. and. 1).;.', . .'.-"'■: The drama?is founded on tho ! verses, and the."rag and.thd bono and the'hank of hair" lady-is'plaj-ed by Miss Elbert Ortoii, who'-: was. p'nea such a beautiful misfitivithi-tho Julius Knight Company. ."You .would- .never; know her to- be the, same woman,"■'.'writes the: Australian.' "She .always,, looted "superb, but now/she acts iihil the par,t.'is\so difficult. It is snaky,', sinuous aid seductive, and she invests -it witli;.all three qualities to perfection.. ■;Will: you over forget; her, stiff, ungracoful; ourtEej:s.;ih'v'Beaucairo'P. Well, how she is all curve's and graceful floatings and. sinkings. . '. ; . '.. "Hilda Spong opsns hero--next, week in- 'A' Littlo Brother to the Rich,' and Alice. Crawford started her season last -night as' Lady Efflngtoh, a neurotic drugtaker in 'Theso' Are, My People,' a sequel to 'The, Squaw Man.'-so 'Australia is well represented. John M'Cormaok, the Irish tenor, is hero, and .Chicago.; has gone.mad over his-.voice."-.■'■'■ . . [ The Miss Crawford mentioned abore was in New Zealand , with Miss' Nance O'Neil.' ■;/ ..:■-, ■•■... ;' ' ■;,.: , ;.. .., :\;

London Playsi:: :•'..■.■ > - The' game of "general post" - continues to" be played :at. tho theatres, with, re.suits which! often: bewilder the unwary. in. search of ;an evening's entertainment. The whimsical Bon has moved', along from :the Haymarkct to*-tho 'Criterion;. Arserie Lupin is off.with his burglarious merrymaking' from the' Buko. of .York's to*■ tho Globe, and. Tho N Littlo. Damozcl will shortly bo transferring her Bohemian humours .from: WyndhamV to tho Prince, of Wales's.' This .latter *.move.. is, "of course, in order to; make way for Mr. Scym'ouri Hiclts's ."Captain Kidd" at tho theatre in ;Charing Cross Road. . Bnt not , have given this; musical version.of "The Dictator" at Hie Prince ofWales's, and. so. have avoided : disturbing ..-the "Damozel"?' , Tho. Coventry ; Sh ; eet-house is surely tho one more naturally associated with'musical comedy. Mr..Uernard .Shaw's ."sermon in • crude .melodrama," "Tho Shoiring of Blanco Posnet," was so fully discussed,- first,' after' its prohibited performance in London,' and then on its permitted'representation in Dublin, that, I * need. not say very much: about its production .by this Incorporated Stage Society at the Aldwycli." What chiefly strikes me is that the p"iece ought to havo for its ■sub-title,' "Much Ado About Nothing.','—"Dramatic News."

Shakespeare in the Open. There is a, movement" on foot (says the , Christian ■"World").'for tho. performance in schools, by conipetont players, of such of tho Sh'akospearo plays as a'ro suitable. The idea is to get together a thoroughly good pastoral company composed of Bensonians and people.-well versed in Shakespeare.. In the.beginning they would take on the'three plays, "As You ,Lite It," "Twelfth" Night," and - "Tho' Merry. Wires or Windsor." In the lii-st place these players would take smaller towns of about 10,000 population, which, for' the most part, are not visited. by . Shakespearean companies. They' would try to secure a suitable spot, either in tfie. grounds of one of the- schools or in a private garden, and tho older: pupils in ail the schools of the town would bo invited ■ to attend tho performance. -Probably' some .children might also, bo sont from tho " outlying villages. It is' suggested that tho'plays should take place during tho month of Jiftie, either afternoon or evening; as bost suits tho schools, concerned. It would siirpriso a good many people if they really know the amount of Shakespearean reading done in some of. tho public elementary and' evening' schools. Mr. Oscar Brown-ing-holds tho view, that,the, centre' of. culture in England is changing from tho-old ■public schools, ..whero it; is founded on Greek 'and Latin/ to tho" modern schools of the public—the ■ public ' [elementary schools and theijvoutgrowths—whoro it is fonnded on ShakeapcMO. No doubt, it would ho an advantage- if children could see some of the plays we'll performed, but a good-deal is derived from Shakespeare in many of tho schools,by teaching the children to perform the ploys Ihcinaalsai. "' '■■' ' V" : •■ .'- '■.■'■'■ •■■■''■■ -ci' "■

Notes. .'" .' •' ■'''■. ',■■.'.■;■■■■■":. ■■. ■. ''I . Mr. Stilling; Duff, of Wellington, who for many years was connected with tho stage, has received a 'letter from England from his old friend : Mr. Frank ticrald,-who will bo remembered by playgoers of from fifteenito twenty years ago. Iho letter states that ho 'has been . en-1 gaged to proceed to. Australia to prouueo and play hi Nat. Gould's new melodrama, "Tho Chanco. of , a Lifetime," which has been secured by Mr. William Anderson for production in Australasia. Mr. Gerald will alto represent Mr.' Gould's interest in the play. ■■ Among the names in Iho copyright cast in London wero several known in 'Australia, these including Messrs. Harry Gribben, Frank Gerald, C. Aspinall,-Fred Dark. oad Bert Gould, and.Miss Kuth Wallace. -Mr. Gerald, it might lie mentioned,-is a vice-president of ..mi theatrical-'- organisation . known, as Tho Sketch Club." . .. ~ > , Mr. Lewis Waller, jun., hero with "The J.' lag Lieutenant" Company, last week, informed me that it -was tho intention of his father to stage Rostand's "Cyrano do licrgerac in London shortly.'. . This classical blank versa' masterpiece,, with its big-nosed hero,- has not been, witnessed in London since it,was. played by the'late lamented Coquelin. At' its' only : production in Australia, with" Mr. Henry Lee and Miss.Eugenie Duggan as Cyrano and ltaanc.it-was "guyed" by an audience that expected to see melodrama. When will Australian audiences appreciate the fact that melodrama is,'as a:rule, the crudest, and most .elementary form of stage entertainment? The history of good plays produced in Australia makes bad reading.' - ■;•. ;..-.";, . '[■'.. 7 Oscar /Wilde's brilliant comedy,' "The Importance of 'Being Earnest," has been successfully revived by Mr. : George Alex-' ander in London." : ■ , ... ■•.:. -. In a recent letter • received by a Melbourne friend from: Mr. ":Henry who will'be remembered as tho popular leading man in Margaret Anglin's company, are some interesting items of news, in commenting on the productions for tho season .in Now. York, Mr. Kolkor mentions' "Arseno Lupin" and "The Third Degree, as having been received, withspecial favour,by.playgoers in New'Tork; while ."Salvation .Nell" and. "The Lion and-the Mouse" are playiiig to fi.no-busi-ness on tour. It is worthy, of-notice that ■this successful quartet of dramatic has all been.secured.for Australia by J. .C. Williamson. Owing. to tho postponement of Eugene Walter's play, in which Mr. Kolker was to have &ken the leading masculine role, he has joined Madame Nasimova, tho Hussian emotional actress, who has, made a success in New Tprk during tho last, .three years, and they, are now playing to' capacity, busi.ness'in' a piece .. called... "The Passion J?lower."»; - .■■. ■■• > •:■■ :'•■•■,-■.•■..■- : -