THE THEATRE.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1313, 16 December 1911, Page 9

THE THEATRE.

(Bt Sinvius.) The World's a theatro; the Earth a Btnge.-llej-.food. "The Speckled Banti." "Tho Speckled Band" Companv is to lpave Sydney to-ilay for WcilintfiOK direct, and will open at tho Opera Hou«« on Wednesday next. Tho ehiot perlonnor is a very fine boa constrictor, which is used for the purpose of a v.ircdoiv display by ■ day, and at night P', : \y s . part with all tho snaky sang froid of an experienced actor. Mr. Gaston Morvalfi has to handle the snake, and for {hat purpose wears a pair of stout gauntlets. Needless to say, ttie "B:md" is luiiuis its langs, but, nevertheless, it is a very ugly gentleman, calculated to terrorise more people than beautiful Dorothy Dix. The company is a strong one, and the play has a weird fascination. An Actors' Union. The formation of an actors' union in Australia has led incidentally to corrcspondence in tho Melbourne Argus upon the custom of bringing complete dramatic companies from England tor short Australian tours. The discussion might have been made interesting had tho.disputauts not drifted rapidly to ihe effort of scoring personal points Against each other apart ° from the issue. Jho claim of tho Australian unionist—using tho term wholly for distinction —is, we understand, that the support to stars, such as tho Irvings, Oscar _ Asche, and others, might bo just as efficiently supplied by local stock actors as by the importation of whole companies. Prior to tho era of musical comedy ami picture. shows, while the drama in its old moaning was still au institution in Australia, such a claim might be strongly and justly maintained. In tho (lays of tho late' Mr. J. T. Cathcart and his contemporaries there was support for Shakespeare or for such plays as those of the Sheridan and Goldsmith type which, though it might bo equalled, could not possibly have been surpassed amongst English-speaking peoples. A score of names might be cited in support nf that contention, but they are mostly names of a dead and gone generation of actors. The palpable fact—largely ignored in the correspondence upon the subject—is that the local stock actor, neither through his own shortcomings nor from any dosiro on the part of theatrical managers to oppress him, is the victim of circumstances, which neither unionism nor any other cure that may in reason bo suggested can correct. . Tho first difficulty is that Australians have lost the taste for sound drama, and the tasto of a community for a particular form nf entertainment, whether it lie artistically wrong or right, is not a factor that may bo corrected either by organisation or dictation. Hilda Spong's Return. Miss Hilda Spong's return to Melbourne after a long absence will be associated to-night with the production of Walter Browne's new morality play, "Everywoman," which tho Australian actress saw at the Herald Square Theatre, New York, just before she was engaged by .Mr. ,F. C. Williamson for the title-role. A spectacular setting, with sumptuous costumes, will be required for this strange play, which'will show a rehearsal on the stage of a big New York Theatre, and a great banquet in the gorgeous rooms of Everywoman. Mr. George Miller, the principal comcclian, has just arrived in Mr-lbourne from London for tho part of Bluff, a tlieatrie.il manager, and a particularly long cast of 35 characters is to include Miss Emma Temple as Truth, Mr. Eardloy Turner as the monkish fellow Nobody, and Mr. Arthur Styan as Wealth. Melbourne Piqued. . Melbourne is piqued because the Melba Grand Opera Company did not give so many performances thero as in Sydney. Says tho "Age":—"lt is to be feared that oltciided personal feeling, and not any lack of that solid appreciation which is revealed unerringly by tho treasury, has led to the premature closing of the Melbourne season. Sydney is prone to Hysterical outbreaks at times and at such moments she is extravagantly emotional. The Melbourne public is not so effusive or demonstrative as tnat of Sydney. The Melba Opera Company came from tho latter place elated by tho flattering attention paid to theni. As individuals, they were immense social successes, feted and idolised everywhere they went. At cach performance, the adulatory personal nolo'was prcdoinineht,' and' tile audience wore ready to roar their enthusiasm as Spaniards do at a bull-light, or as barrackers do at a football match. It is part of tho enjoyment. In comparison, therefore, the discriminating tone of the Melbourne press, and the reserve of Melbourne audiences left a something wanting. It was interpreted into indifference, and even disapproval. Melbourne's artistic crime was that it dared to discriminate and refused to allow its enthusiasm to carry it off. But to imagine that its appreciation was lacking, or that its interest was feoblo, is a fallacy that tho box offico returns emphatically explode. Melbourne's estimate of tho company is unquestionably high but not extiavagant.' Led by Melba, whose voice is still peerless, whose acting is, c« Goldsmith said of David Garrick, "natural, simple, affecting," and whoso enthusiasm for her art is unflagging, tho company has fully sustained tho splendid reputation that heralded it. Notes. The H. B. Irving Company, due in Auckland at New Year, were in Perth last week. It is a long jump from Western Australia to Auckland—probably the longest ordinarily possible in Austra'lasi t. The Princess Theatro freehold lias been sold to Mr. George Marlow, of George Marlow, Ltd., the present lessees of tho theatre. It is stated that the price paid was about J535,000. A consideration is also to be made for the unexpired portion of the Princess Theatro Company's lease, which has about three years to run. The building was erccted 28 years ago and the company given a 30 years' building lease. On the frontage tho price works out at about ,£'22o a foot. The executors of the Benjamin estate were the vendors. On Saturday last, Mr. 0. Lennon, a celebrated' pantomimist, passed through "Wellington en routo from America to Melbourne, where he is to play the Old Man of the Sea in Williamson's pantomimje "Sinbad the Sailor" at Christmas. Miss Mario Lohr has been secured for nn American tour next year by Licblcr and Company. Iwa (Miss Kva Skerrett, of tho Bluff), ■who is described as the "Maori Nightingale," is at tho London Palace. Mr. Bert Gilbert, so well lcnoira in pantomime, is appearing in sketch turns at the National Amphitheatre, Sydney. News has been received from Molbonrne that James Morgan, well known "advance," last in Now Zealand ahead ol Goorgo Stephenson's Wanderers Company, died recently in the hospital from pneumonia. One of tho London theatres is Tunning a three-pieco matinee on Wednesday and Saturday—each a little masterpiece of its kind—(l) "Tho Garden Conversation," from George Meredith's "Sentimentalists"; (2) Granville Baker's witty and amusing farce, "Rococo," and (3) ,T. 31. Barrio's dramatic gem, "The Twelve Pound Look," to finish up with.