CHURCH AND STAGE.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 883, 1 August 1910, Page 7

CHURCH AND STAGE.

■ ' ' . «■ —- s '. •. A MUCH-DISCUSSED PLAY. PULPIT PROTESTS. STRONG REMARKS BY DR. GIBB. In the course .of tho sermon at St. John's Church last uight, Dr. Gibb said:—ldesfro to take this opportunity of uttering, my whole-souled protest against the play—"The Girl from Rector's"—which' is to bo, staged iu the - Opera House--to-morrow. I may be told that in making" reference to this brazen-faced iniquity, I am only giving it a free'advertisement, and that some may go to see it who "would not have : gone had -I' held my peace. But the risk of this must not deter mo' from tho discharge of a plain public duty. . And the risk is small.' Tho advertisement columns of .the newspapers aro full of ;t. .Inspired locals set forth its salacious charms.- Letterpress and pictures _ make their appeal from every hoarding m the city. ■■ Leaflets—l hold '.< ,two of them in my hand—aro to be picked up in many places—leaflets in which there is barely an effort to con--' ceal the foulness of the play. It is in. deed time to speak out. ' I dcnouneV' ..this,play as Satanic. It is a beastly— .' glittering, but none the less beastly— ':' appeal -to the basest passions. . It h'oldn marriage and love up to mockery. It rendered tenfold more-' deadly by tho fascination of wit and ; beauty and dress with which the play is said to be invested.- It is horrible" that our; sons and daughters should be ' .exposed■ to*the contamination of wit-'' nessmg this degradation. Do you think' I am exaggerating? Look how the '■'. devil leers through the admiring com- .' nionts-of certain sections of tho press. ' : Mi.\% spice _and. rod pepper, and you've got The Girl from Rector's.' " So says- : . tho' "Sporting and Dramatic News." - ITablo Talk"- declares that "the whole thing is an irresponsible /burst of bristling frivolity with'a French-flavour of • frank riskiness, which, is piquantly" agreeable." The "Referee" informs U3 " that "it is a diluted farce or/four'acta.'".'; .The first is a smile;.the second a scream,' the', third a chuckle, the fourth a'■' hilarious riot;"' In, t one of.the leaflets' I have hero it is described, as, "A spicy '■ ..salad, with very little 'dressing!" And .the^counsel is given: "To oueudnd, of': 'laughter; take .sound advice, and .©>-'-' ■on ja-.hilarious riot with '.'■'.'.,' The Girl-' from Rector's.'" So rile is this:.thing -, that though I speak with tho white '• '"■ heat of righteous indignation,. I'dare '■"■ not. sketch tho plot. Think : of ' that. ■ There is to be put on the stage of the * Opera House a play which a-decent", : marVmay r not. describe.' in'.'detail'-to' admixed audience': Buttthere, is no need. ' You have .seen-the grave, stern article which the "Evening Post" copied from ; one of tho Auckland newspapers, there- i. 'by earning the gratitude,of' every iover. of decency in this community. Is 'there.'-'.' no power in the hands of the police to .', put an eud to these abominations? The ■ Attorney-General, who :is wholly. sym-:,' ■ .pathetic with all that makes for right-'-'oousness, says there is no such ..power..' It is then a clear.case for" tho inter-, ference, of the".'Legislature. Power should bo obtained,- and that without delay,', to stem the tide 1 of- such, iniqui- ■ ties.^. The'.police will .hale before'the magistrate a woman for solicitation- fn ; the streets; but "here : , is .'a play which -V will do as much harm'to,the-morals of '-' a : large • section 'of the, community as '■■■' a regiment of'.courtesans. The situation is monstrous. I hope that an agitatio'ri will arise that will''before long free the stage of this city from' tho.. pollution of the "frank .riskiness and . piquant agreeableness" of French lubri- '. city. ' Join with me in prb.tes'ting in .the name of decency,.in the name of our youth, in the name of God/'rigamst'' this public putridity. .When speaking of the modern stago'tho other evening, ' and setting forth its condition as an ominous sign of the times, 1 did not think that we should so soon havo in our midst so loathsome an illustration of my contention. It would be anti- •; climax, after what I have said, to express tho hope that none of you, even ; though you may go occasionally to the theatre, will sully your souls .by visiting this play. 'For a member of the' Church of Jesus Christ to attend this - pornographic exhibition will bo a scandal and downright denial of Christ.'-

SfeRMON'BYTHE REV. J. J. NORTH. ,\ . .At the Baptist Churcli last night,, the 'Rev.'J.. J. North'made referenco to certain theatricals. Ho -said:—"Tho. •-'.' play which invades / this :city to- ' : ". j morrow, is a proverb in America for its undisguised bawdcry.. To be oho : worse than-the .'Girl from. Rector's'' is to toiich. the Nadir of , theatrical... shame. It has been played in turbo of our. chief cities. In Dunedin, which is : ' , supposed to' have more conscience than any city; the papers were silent concorning its bold immorality. In Christ- v., church a leadcr r writer in the - evening -.:' : paper girded at the Presbytery for \;. objecting to the Johnson-Jeffries fight ' pictures while such a public scandal was being openly perpetrated as tho .play.' - Personally I should infinitely prefer, a ; prize fight. The play went to Auckland:' Tho evening pnper in that" city' .pub- . lished a column of moderately-worded criticism from its .theatrical 'corres'pondent. It declared that tho whole, play proceeded over very thin, ice,.was ,;■" full of dash and claii,- so > that • people &. . laughed .without recognising-, what - they . r wore laughing at; arid added.that in. the last act it became impossible for laughter to remain innocent. The half- . covert,-half-ashamed way in.which"the'.sophisticated laughed,. and 'the distinct senso 'of restraint that fell: on , the' . ■ wholo house;, indicated that tho Ijinit .•" had been passed, and that the atmosphere had become uncomfortably sultry. , ■ Those Vwho find subjects for jest and laughter in the loss of.:, a'", woman's" purity and of .a; man's honour are digging the grave - of their nation. Should tho State interfere? Who can doubt it? Tho laissezfaire doctrine is gono by tho, board. It went bocauso commercially ..it meant : a sweated and underpaid proletariat class. It went in the hygienic sense' : because it meant dirty backyards and typhoid. It went in literature because tho ribald and obscene paper is worse than the typhoid, and poisons and dethrones the very soul. It must go in the .theatre- too. There must bo such' ' a .--censorship' as shall'save this com-: munity from its own undoing."

SPEECH BY MR. HUGH WARD. .'(By TeleeraDh-Prcss Association.) ■ Auckland, July 31. At tho conclusion of ; the Ward Comedy' Company's season -at His Majesty's Theatre last night, Mr; Hugh: Ward, responding to,an insistent demand for a speech, had a tilt at tho movemont by tho Wellington Ministers' Association to prevent tho production of "A Girl From Rector's" in that city. "Wo endeavour to givo the public what; they want," said Mr. Ward,, "and the proof that they.do like, this comedy consists in its having run lor nine nights here to packed houses. If thero had been a'nything Very objectionable about it the people of Auckland would not have flocked to see it as they havo. It seems very curious that tho guardians of tho morals of Wellington, those gentlemen who profess to do -all things with charity, should condercji a play-before they have Seen it. Yot'"t!inyaro.not hurting us. I have had s.-im'o funny experiences' i" my career,,, but this one of having a body of clergymen acting as advance agents for our coiicdy is uuique." (Laughter.) '. .U: