THE THEATRE.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1806, 19 July 1913, Page 9

THE THEATRE.

[By Sylvius.]

The World's a theatre; the Earth a j Btace. —Heywood. - c f "The Night Side of London." t A new Harlow Dramatic Company is ' to commence a season of modern molo- i drama at tho Opera House on Monday \ evening. The opening play will bo "The i Night Side of London." The company i is headed by Mr. Robert Ininan and Miss 1 Ehvyn Harvey. Ml'. Stanley Grant will 1 attend to tho business end of things. ' Theatrical Cost. Mr. Bort Royle, representative in New Zealand for J. C. Williamson, Ltd., has had a long and varied experience in connection with the stage in Australasia, and : whatever he says in respect to tho history of the theatre is of interest. I happened to mention something "about the cost of a certain production likely to visit New Zealand, and it started Sir. Boyle talking, who set out to prove tho principle that tho rise in tho cost of living (or, to put it in another way, tho cheapening of- tho sovereign) was directly responsible for tho enormous inereaso in the cost of theatrical productions in this part of the world. "Take Hie Royal Comic Opera Company," said Mr. Royle. "Mr. Musgrovo has told me himself that twenty-five years ago it was possible to make ends meet on dCGOO a week. Nowadays we must tako at least double that amount before we can look for profits, and dramatic companies which might fight along on between ,£3OO and .£4OO a week have now to face charges which means that moro than double the sum mentioned has to be found to make tho thing pay. Bland Holt could not live playing to 35., 25., and Is., aud producing the plays he did twenty years ago, and so it is with everything. "Contemporaneous with, tho rise in wages and the cry for better conditions, prices for everything have gone steadily up and up, until the manager is faced ivitli muohi greater- risks proportionately than was the case a generation ago. Then) the visits of good-. companies were not nearly so frequent, and consequently when a really Uig attraction such as the Royal Comic Opera Company was looked upon more or less as, an event. In tlioso days salaries were at least a third what they are to-day. If anyone wore to have talked of a oerformer getting ,£SO or even ,£3O per week, they would have been considered mad. Now such salaries ai-e far from uncommon. The salaries of minor performers have also increased proportionately. The stage hands and members of the orchestra have their unions, nnd are paid award wages, greatly in excess of what was once the case. Overtime has to be paid for at certain rates, and tliero are restrictions as to the timo for which members of orchestras are available for rehearsals. "The whole aspect of the business has changed. Consider what it costs for fa-res compared with what it was twenty-five years ago—double, at least, everywhere. The rent of theatres has gone up, so lias the cost of adverting and printing, the cost of labour to -make tho wardrobes nnd properties, the cost of carting—everything has gono up roundly about 100 per cent., and yet thero are those who cannot conceive why tho price of a seat in tho dress circle is now 6s. instead of ss. I think the reason is most obvious, don't you?" Told in America. Among the passengers sailing yesterday on the Whito Star liner Oceanic for Southampton was (says tho "New York Times" of April G) Clyde Meynell, managing director for Williamson's and Musgrovo's theatrical enterprises in Australia, who has been spending a week in New York to look at some of the American plavs. Before leaving he &id he had arranged' to send "Oh! Oh! Delphine!" "Joseilh ond his Brethren," and "Within ,tho Law" to Australia, next season. Lewis Waller was going thero for a short season, and Adeline Genco with a troupo of Russian dancers, ho said. .• Before entering tho theatrical business Mr. Meynell was a surgeon attached tothe Thames police at Wapping, London, ono of the worst -districts along tho waterfront. Ono night ho was sent to sieo a sailor who had gono mad, and had escaped to tho roof of the house, wliero ho defied capturo by. rooting up the heavy red tiles and threatening to hurl them on the head of tho first person who came near him. The young surgeon was an athleto at Trinity College, Dublin, in his student days, and a wonderful man, six feet two inches tall. Ho climed up the roof of tho old house, and for over half an hour fought for his life in the clutches of tho frenzied sailor wliilo the neighbours and the pslico gazed at tho terriblo struggle. Finally a tile broke under the surgeon's foot, and he slid down tho roof and over the edge, but managed to clutch tho coping with his hands and hang oil. Tho sailor, seeing his victim going over, went down the roof after him and toppled sheer over on to tho piles in tho river bank 150 feet below! _ Meynell was rcscued by two policemen just as he was about to let go through exhaustion. The incident so unnerved him that he resigned as police surgeon and became business manager of a Southampton theatre. ;•) A Huge Attraction. Madge Titheradge, the leading lady of tho Lewis Waller Company, when she arrived in Melbourne on her way to Sydney, incidentally paid a tribute to Australian theatrical enterprise when she referred to the presence in Melbourne of Adeline Genee and the Imperial Russian Ballet. "When we left London for America," said Miss Titheradge, "Mile. Genee was ap- , pearing there. Just a little while ago, it seems. Then wo'' come out to Australia, so many thousands of miles away, nnd find tho world-famed dancer and,the R-us- ). sian Ballet in this city. And what a programme. Londoners would bo amazed if they saw the length of it, and the variety and quality of the entertainment. It seems to me marvellous that a huge attraction liko this can be brought such a' distance to Australia, nnd play lengthy seasons at prices far and away below those charged in London and New York for tho .same artists, but for a shorter programme.' And there must bo more expenso attaching to such an attraction in Australia. Theatrical enterprise in this country is marvellous, I think, and the public are very lucky." The Royal Comic Opera Co. When tho J. C. Williamson Royal Comic Opera Company returns to Sydney • to present "The Dancing Mistress," a new English artist, Miss Hilda Vining, will make her first appearance in Australia. Miss Vining has a fine record. While Constanco Drever (who created in London the role of Nadina in "Tho Chocolate Soldier") was enjoying a holiday, Miss Vining took that prima donna's place in "Nightbirds," nnd achieved a great success. She has also appeared as Nadina, the notices of her performance being most laudatory. An important role played by Miss Vining was Claudian in "The Pink ' Lady." Most of the critics of Miss Vin--2 ing's performances agree regarding her possession of both acting and singing ability, together with a pleasing stage appearance, and natural charm. Madge Titheradge Interviewed. "Daintiness personified!" was tho first • thought that entered my head (says a Sydney interviewer) when I met Miss Madge Titheradge for the first time the ' other day. All the morning she had „ been seeing a-continuous stream of callers, and 1 really felt sorry for the frail little girl who rose to meet mo at my entrance. She looked a triilo tired, but there was tho eager expression in her eyes that showed she was fully alive to all that was going on about her. To adequately describe just how potent is - the appeal that her personality makes to one would bo impossible. The only conclusion you can arrive at is that you like her instinctively,, before sho even speaks, and that there is something extremely fascinating in the open frankness of manlier with which she greets you. All her r movements are instinctively graceful. ' She moves with a lightness of step and poiso that instantly recalls to me tho fact that she is known throughout the world as the actress who created "The HuHorll.v on the Wheel." Like the butterfly, ail her actions are light and airy, anil her form and appearanco aro of tho thereall.v beautiful type. She resembles no other thing .so much as the marliiugs of a pieco of old Dresden china. "It seems so funny to be back here Again after all these years." she said, 1 with a quuiat little smile, that displayed

two fascinating dimples. "You know, i . I was only a little tot when I went away, and I remember practically- nothing | about it. Do you think I shall liko Sydney?" "That I don't know," I replied, "but I am quito certain that Sydney will liko you." "Oh! do you think so?" sho asked eagerly. "1 liopo it does! You see, my father has made a great namo for himself here, and I don't want to let down tho family prestige by making a failure now. I have just finished a tour in America, you know, and I enjoyed that immensely. Everyone was so kind to me, aud 1 got such nice notices from tho press. I like the jolly, care-free life over there, too, and their uotels, 1 think, are the most wonderful and luxurious in the world." "What kind of parts do you like best?" I asked, when Miss Titheradge paused a moment for breath. "Oh! modern • roles, I think," sho answered. "Of courso, lam very fond of the one I'm going to open in here—Katlierine in 'Henry V.,' you know; but 'The Butterfly on the Wheel' is the one I like best, l'ou see, in modern parts ono gets so much more chance to be natural, and after all I believe that in the materialistic school is found the most artistic typo or acting. When 1 sit down to study a new role, the first thing that I do is to shut my eyes and try to put everything ] out of my mind but the character I 1 want to portray. It is hard to explain ' just exactly what I mean, but I constitute myself a sort of critic for whom ; every action and thought of the woman I am trying -to fathom is passed before my mind's eye for judgment. 'Why does she say so-and-so?' I ask myself. 'Does she want to get a certain effect? Ah, yes; I see now why sho talks liko that! And so on, until I have taken almost every line, however unimportant it may appear at first sight, to pieces, and carefuly analysed its meaning. Notes, Mr. W. S. Percy, the dnpper little comedian of the New Comic Opera Company, and one in whom New Zealand playgoers tako a paternal interest in, leaves sliortly on a trip to England. His trip will bo largely a gag-hunt in the wilds of civilisation. Miss Maud Wingfield, the clover young actress, who is appearing as the demure lady missionary in "Excuse Me," at tho Criterion Theatre, Sydney, is to bo a member of the Oscar Osche-Lily Brayton Company during the forthcoming South African tour. Sho has also been engaged by Mr, Asche for his next London season. Miss Wingfield is a New Zealand girl, who started walking on with just one line to say in "Get-Rich-Quick Wailingford" last year, and she is, in. consequence, much pleased with her good fortune. During the illness of Miss Josephine Cohan, Miss Wingfield, as understudy to Miss Beatrice Holloway, who played the American star's part during her absence from tho cast, was called upon to play her principal's role, and her good work in. this emergency brought her under the notice of Mr. Fred Niblo, who, seeing her obvious ability as-an actress, gave her the chance in "Excuse Me" which made possible her present desirable engagement. Much amusement is being expressed in theatrical circles over tho news that has just arrivd from America of the re-niar-riage, for the fifth time, of Mr. Nat Goodwin, the famous light comedian. This last matrimonial venture of the wellknown actor appears to have been undeitaken under somewhat difficult conditions. His four other wives all graduated to the pesitioh of "better half" from being his leading women, but the new Mrs. "Goodwin, we hear, was employed as his housekeeper beforo the happy event took place.