THE THEATRE.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1563, 5 October 1912, Page 9

THE THEATRE.

(By Sylvius.)

Tho World's a theatre; the Earth a stage.—Heywood.

"Kismet" and Shakespeare,

On Monday evening the theatre-going public will bo afforded an opportunity of seeing "Kismet," the highly-picturesque spectacular play written by .Air. Edward Knoblauch (not Knoblaud, vide the advertisements).

As was usual in' the case of. a groat many seiisalionally-succas.-fui ;...>•-. "Kismet" was hawked by its author for some timo until it found a producer in Oscar Asche, who is nothing it not daring, both as an actor and producer. Mr. Ascho saw a. series of scenes that must catch tho eye and stimulate tho jaded palate of West End theatre-goers, just a little tired even of Shaw, Barker, mil Co.—something right away from anything- that had been attempted for year.-. Ho produced the play with characteristic thoroughness, imported everything and anything that would contribute to tho languorous, odorous almosphero of the Near East, and set out. to hold the attention and sustain the "air" even through the intervals, and with a fairly good sequence of events as a story, scored a great success, not only in London, but in Melbourne, and, in u lesser degree, in Sydney. % "Kismet" is sure to attract unusually big business—it will please the eye and souses of playgoers as the Christmas Eve shows in the shop-windows excite and fascinate the children, but the more serious-minded playgoers are looking forward to the coming season with-an interest unusual because of tho Shakespearemi plays which are to bo revived. Strangely enough, with the exception of H. B. Irving's "Hamlet," the last Shakespearean play staged in Wellington was "Tho Taming of tho Shrew," and it will bo the first in which we are to see. Mr, Oscar Asche and Miss Lily Brayton. The protagonists on the last occasion were. Miss Ola Humphreys and Mr. Henrj Kolker, and without making any refer ence to that performance, I merely remark that we.-expect something a great deal better frofn the Ascites. And there is not the slightest doubt that we shall get it. The press, public, and even rival aclors. concede that the performance is a. very fine one, and that the ensemble is as perfect as we have ever seen in the presentation of Shakespeare. Then we arc to see "Othello," "The Merchant of Venice," and "The Merry Wives of Windsor"—a feast of the very best, J i faith! Miss Nance O'Neil Exalted. What has been described as tho "biggest stock event America has even seen" is > associated with the name of Nance O'Neil, who is playing at the Majestic in Boston with the Morison Company. Her first big success came with the production by David Belasco of "The Lily." The play gives tho spectator a clash of ideals, the rebellion of the new against tho old, and the justice of turning down the page of the past; but it is presented in action, not by suggestion, and therein proves its superiority to the majority of modern plays. We are told that in this pieco Miss O'Neil accomplished the most , artistic work of her career. "It is a consistent interpolation," writes ono of the reviewers; "curious, subdued, monotonous, until tho motherhood in her,' denied direct expression by the unutterable sins and dissipations of the defenders of family honour, rises in its might to defend tho sister, in whose upbringing it has found vicarious joy. I doubt if (here is another actress in the Lnitod States capable of so thrilling, volcanic an outburst, and surely I would never have believed Miss O'Neil capable of a repression so magnetised." "Ready Money." "Ready Money," another American piece, is the latest comedy to hit London, coincideatly with the emphatic success of "Get-Rich-Quick Wallingford" at tho Sydney Criterion. Mr. Allan Aynesworth lias thus entered upon tho management at the Now Theatre auspiciously,.the play being described as a clever and sparkling satire upon the methods, of American finance, which is likely to have a long run. Tho story shows bow a young man, who owns an unprofitable gold mini; on a temporary lease, cannot sell a single share, even to his rich friends, until an American counterfeiter thrusts into his hands a big pile of forged notes. Until that moment the mineowner was a notorious and dismal failure. But tho mere fact that he is seen with this bundle of notes in his hands completely changes his fortunes. Tho glimpse of "ready money" causes all his friends to believe that ho has struck gold. They fall over each other to buy shares, and when ho insists upon their taking their cheques back they refuse utterly.' Then the detectives come upon his track, and a series of incidents follow in which these officers are baffled by an old swindler. Of course, in the end the mine really does strike gold "rich," "but," says tho "Daily Chronicle," "not before last night's audience had laughed uproariously through three acts." Mr. Kenneth Douglas appeared as tho mineowner, and Mr. Aynesworth as the expert forger. "The Woman." The plot of "The Woman," tho next play to be staged by the .1. C. Williamson management at the Theatre Royal, is laid in Washington, oil the eve of a fierce political combat over "The Mullins" Bill in Congress. The Hon. Jim Blake, manipulator of the party machine, discovers that his deadly rival, Matthew Standish, whoso great political asset is personal integrity, has a weak spot in his past—an affair with a woman. To unearth her name was the tho task before the "boss," who craftily figures that. Standish would warn her as soon as he heard of the rumour. Consequently Blake hastens to inform Standish, who falls into, the trap by telephoning an alarm. As the girl operator declines to tell the number to Blake, he submits to her. a cruel cross-examination, and threatens to trump up a charge under the telephone regulations, involving a year's imprisonment. Meanwhile she (and the audience) learn that the woman is none other than tho boss's own daughter, Grace, the wife of the Governor of the State. She presently arrives on the scene, and is warned by Standish and the operator, Wanda Kelly, of impending disclosure. Standish refuses to give up liis<political fight to shield Grace, and (he "machine" relentlessly pushes on investigations, despite the entreaties of Grace and others that the means adopted to crush Standish arc not those of a fair combat. The truth is finally ferreted out by Ralph Van Dyke, and the boss, finding his boomerang recoil on himself, leaves the field to his antagonist. The play was produced by David Belasco in September of last year in New York, and it ran for eight months. As a picture of the boss in politics it is interesting, while the outline of the story reveals its strong dramatic possibilities. 'Mr. William Desmond, who was a]iout to return to America, has been retained for tho part of the Hon. Jim Blake; Mr. Sydney Sterling will play Standish; Mr. Harcourt Realty the' Governor of the Stale; and, of course. JMss Hilda Spong will be the woman—Miss Florence Gleeson will have a lino part as the telephone girl. "Dorothy" Redivivus. In the New I'omie Opera Comnnnv's production of "Dorothy" in Sydney* M'i.-s Florence Young will appear in the title role, Miss Sybil Annulate as Lvdia Hawthorne, Mr. Reginald Roberts as Geoffrey Wilder, Mr. Tallinn- Andrews as Harry Sherwood, and Mr. W. S. Percy as Lurcher. Preparations are being "made for the revival of "Florodora" by the Royal Comic Opera Company at Her Majesty's, Melbourne. Miss Cecilia Loftus. It is slated "under the rose" that Miss Cecilia Loftus will visit Australia next year. This appreciation appeared in a London paper on August li:—"After an absence of a number of years, Miss Cecilia Loftus, the well-known impressionist and mimic, made a highly successful reappearance at .the Palaco on Monday evening. It was at. the Palace that Miss early successes were made—and she was then known by the more juvenile Christian name of Cissic. Music-hall patrons have watched her art steadily improve and mature nil li each succeeding year. Miss Loftus i« something more than a morn mimic. Her impressions invariably bear the reflection of her individuality, nnd thai is what makes them -o interesting. She can also, upon occasion, add a

clever touch of burlesque in a delightful uianuer, as in her imitations of Margaret Cooper at (he piano, and -Vesta, Tilley singing her well-known Holdior song. .V most artistic ileni in her present repertory is her fine impersonation of Sarah Bernhardt. She also gives a life-like imitation of Yvotte Gilbert singing "The Keys of Heaven," with which is contrasted her laughable portraiture of a lady in a tranicar; but it is with her Bernhardt sketch that she reaches classic rank. It is, without doubt, one of the finest impersonations seen in the music-halls tor many a long year, and is alone worth a visit to the Palace." Fireproof Kincmatographs, .An interesting account of the safety precautious adopted in Paris kincmalugruph theatres is contained in a report issued last mouth by the American Con-sul-General in Paris. Safety from fire at kincniatograpli exhibitions in Paris, he says, is secured not by enclosing the apparatus in a fireproof booth or cell, but by the construction of the apparatus itself. The film is wound in the metallic cylinder called a choker. When in use the film passes downwards in front of the lens, and is automatically coiled in another metallic fireproof choker.

Only a small section of the film—about six inches in ■ length—is exposed to the rays from the lens, and should this section take firo it could not possibly ignite (ho portions of the film inside the chokers or cause a conflagration; but to avoid even this danger there is placed between the lamp and the lens a crystal vase or tank filled with water, which effectually prevents over-heating of the film. Further, to secure this result, a flap or movable diaphragm of metal is placed close to and in front of the film, and this is open only when tho apparatus is put in motion, and closes automatically when it stops, shutting oil' the light from/ contact with tho film the moment the pro l jeetion is finished or suspended.