THE THEATRE.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1043, 4 February 1911, Page 9

THE THEATRE.

The World's a theatre; the Larth a stage.—Heywood. (By Svlvius.) * A Faros that Is Funny. "Yi T hat Happened to Jones," which commenccd its frolic at the Opera House last evening, is one of the merriest farces with which Mr. George Broadhurst chcorcd up a- world that waits for laughter. An added interest is lent the performance by the appearance in the cast of Mr. F. B. Sharp, a local solicitor, who is not a- stranger to tho greaso paint, in one of. the leading comedy roles. Mr. George. A\ illoughby has been associated with many gOod comedies and farces in this country, but few of them can "shake the. stick" at "What Happened to Jones" as a joy mill. Plimmer-Donnlston Company. . The talented Plimmer-Dcnniston Comedy Company, .which did. such uniformly ,good business with ."Lover's Lane" and "The Passing of the Third Floor Back" iii Wellington in November last, is about to return to. Sydney, where they are booked to open on .March 11 in Somerset. Maughan's brilliant comedy "Smith." Before shaking the dust of tho Dominion from, its feet, the company will play, a brief week's season at tho Opera House, when thero will be revived Robert Gauthony's popular comedy. "A Message from Mars," with Mr. Harry Plimmer as Horace Parker, Mr, Reynolds Denniston as tho Messenger, and dainty. Miss Lizetto Parlces as Minnie. Tho season, which commences oil' Saturday- next, will probably ...include revivals .of. "The Passing of the Third Floor Back" and "Lover's Lane," both of which pieces 'have been enthusiastically -received in all parts of the Dominion.

Observations of a Chorus Cirl. 'Many a wrinkle, hides behind the limelight-. A soft answer turneth away wrath, but a bold front signs'a contract. Olio girl at the stage door is worth ten' in the ensemble. Who begins amiss ends a miss—if she is a school teacher. A professional beauty is a battleground, of Art and Nature. Many a box of rouge is born to blush under "false pretences., ■ Some actors get a large salary—when they get it. '- Beauty is a gcod letter of introduction—provided ~ one can get past tho office boy. A dinner of- buttor cakes on Broadway is better than the fatted calf on a one-night stand. A. good press agent is .better than great merit. If wishes were angels, every show girl would be a star. Every t wrinkle' in a star's face foretells a benefit. All things come to him who waits— but not in the manager's office. There's many, a slip 'twixt the ring and tho millionaire. . ' ' A cat may look at a king,' but tho property : man must bo handled with 'Musical comedy is tho-hash of Art. • ' ;Blui;hing';is virtue's.col.our, but rouge is'inexpensive. A burlesque is an old ladies' home for incurable jokes. Leslie Curtis (New' York).

R.'G. Carton's Latest Comedy, R. C. Carton calls his new play, "Eccentric Lord Coniberdeue"—which has just been produced in the St. James's Theatre, in London —a novelette in three chapters. And. this is wiiat it appears t-o be. A't all events it is a queer , admixture of farco and melodrama,, dealjn'g with .stolen jewels, piracy, abstracted dispatches, hairbreadth escapes, and comic incident of all kinds. The central figures arc an imperturbable British matron, wlio is protecting a fugitivo Russian grand duchess from pursuing anarchists, and the eccentric Lord Comberdcne, who becomes involved in their tribulations, and whose yacht- is the scene of much of the action. The chief virtue of the piece seems to be that it contains an ideal part -for .Miss Conipto'n. One critic writes': "Miss Comptbir. is provided with one of those parts.which she was born to fill. You will know, broadly, what sort of. thing it is before von see it, and will like it, when you do see" ,'t, none the less but all the more for. that. It is tlie part of an imperturbable matron with a drawl, always imperturbable and never hurrying the drawl, with cheerful views of life, full of common sense, 'racy' in idiom, cool and.competent in every emergency, and conveying the notion' (probably quite sound"! that directness of speech and simplicity of manner arei the, marks of your true gran'de dame. There is sonicthing. comfortable" about this typical figure. .You feel- safe -with it, aiid at home. So peculiarly, and so gratifyingly,_ English is .it that you wan-t to show it to your foreign friends—just to let them know what we can. do."

The Voice of the Cods. An unrehearsed : effect occurred tho other evening during tho performaiico of "The" Christian" at' tho King's Theatre, Melbourne. Lord -Robert Ure is reviling John Storm for having allowed Lady Robert to adopt a child (which, unknown-to him, is really, his own). The following was the dialogue: Lord Robert: Out of the shambles of Solio, and, God'knows. .who's,brat- —- John Storm: God does, know, and so do I. Shall I.tell you. whoso child it is?■ Shall I?,. Shall I? Voice from the Gallery: Yus, go on, guv'nor—go oil 1 ; Tell .tlio blighter—tell 'im! Superstitions. One must own that actors and actresses are a superstitious lot. Hero are some of their superstitions:—- . To whistle in tho theatre is a bad omen. To change costumes in a piece, which has achieved success. To quote "Macbeth" in the theatre. To repeat the last lines of'a play, at rehearsals. To "try the handle of- the wrong door when seeking an interview with anyone in authority.- ■ . To upset a "niake-up" box. To stumble ..over a-sentence ou the r.t3,';e. . To'have three lighted candles on tho stage. . To have the picture of an'Ss't'rich on tho stage. To wear certain shades of yellow on the stage. - All tlieso arc supposed to-bring bad luck to the theatre. "'J he Balkan Princess" is now being rehearsed by tho Royal Comic Opera Company, in Sydney. Jack London as Dramatist. | 'JEinancial" and political questions at issue to-day and the elements which have conspired to produce the present status of . affairs are discussed in. Jack London's drama •'Theft," just published in America. Among tlio characters in tho play are a financial magnate, sell'-mado, self-assured; his son-in-law, a Senator, Who is master of the State political machine; n cold-blooded, pitiless journalist, a reform Representative in Congress, a Labour agitator of the better type, and several varieties of women, lfere is a bit. of talk that gives a notion of the motivo of the plav: "In tho last few years seventy billions of dollars have been artificially added to the capitalisation of the nation's inclus-

tries, and what do these seventy bilkons of 'water' mean? They mean that at ;5 per cent three'billions and a half must lie paid for things this year, and every year, mcro than'things are really worth. The people who labour have to pay for this. There is Theft for you." "Watching tho Thumbs." Laurence Irving, comparing his theatrical with his ••vaudeville" experiences, says: "I learnt many things by associating with all sorts of proficient people, from lightning cartoonists to Japanese acrobats. For instance, wero it ever to fall to my lot (which I hope it never will) to play Robert Macaire, however feeble tho rest of the performance, the lessons I received from Charlene and Charlene, jugglers, would enable me to give points to any past representative of the part in the high art of 'logle-snatohing.' One learns, finally, in the music halls to regard one's self not, as in some West End theatres, as an aid to digestion, but as a gladiator watching tho thumbs of the fourpenny gallery." .. .' Kotos. "Henry VIII" is expected to run through the' winter ?£ His -Majesty's Theatre in London.. It will'be followed by "Macbeth," which Sir Hubert Tree has been promising for somo years. Undoubtedly; he will make the fullest use of-the pictorial .opportunities which it will offer to him. He' himself 'will play the guilty Thane, and tho part is likely to suit him a great deal better than Hamlet and some "others. Arthur Bourchier will be his Macduff, and Irene Vanburgh is Lady Macbeth, a character which she has played already to' her husband's Macbeth." It'is'said that Gordon Craig will design a good deal of the scenery.

. "We Can't be as Bad as all That I" is tho title cf Henry Arthur Jones's new comedy; It is a play of social life in the English upper classes, and is to lie put in rehearsal at. once by the Authors' Production .Company, under the personal supervision of Mr. Jones. The first of the New Theatre's East Side (New York) subscription performances was given Monday evening, October 10, when 2000 working folk saw ''The Blue Bird." They wero charged from 10 to, 50 cents per seat. The ruulicnco was a most enthusiastic one. Tile iwpularit.v of these performances is indicated by the fact that '40,000 implications were received for tho 2000 seats. Mr. Lewis Waller at one time owned horse, which was called Boaucaire. alter his well-known play. The nnimn' ran badly—in fact, came ill . last every time. Kventually it was sold, and the actor, having lost money on it, hoped nover to see it again. Some time alter, in his hurry to catch a train, he hailed a passing hansom. The horse went so slow that Sir. Wallte rmissed his train. When ho was paying the. cabman his fare, ho recognised in the horse the noble features of Beaucaire. , ■ In a year's time, when Mr. 11. B. Irving returns to London from liis Australian tour, he will open in his new theatre, which ho will namo tho Irving Theatre, erected within a hundred yards of tho statue of lii 3 illustrious father, which is to be placed at tho, side cf tho National Portrait Gallery. Tho new playhouse will provide accommodation for 2000 people. . Spceial attention is .to bo paid to tho .stage, which is to be large, and fitted-with tho most modern appliances 'for tho quick'changing of elaborate scenes. ■ : '