"THE RIVALS."

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1855, 15 September 1913, Page 8

"THE RIVALS."

The production on Thursday and Fri- '1 day of Sheridan's "Tho Rivals" should " be supported by good audiences for d several reasons. Of these tlie least selfish is that it represents the efforts J of a considerable number of persons and the outlay of much timo and hard 1 work in an excellent cause, that of tho free kindergarten schools. There is no need to labour this point, because amateur actors usually derive much compensating pleasure frbm their toil. From tTi© purely selfish point of view, however, there are two distinct reasons why there should be no vacant seats in the Sydney Street room at tho two performances. Whether it be looked at as a model of dramatic prose writing or as a rollicking farce, "The Rivals" may fairly bo said to hold the -first placo among comedies from the Elizabethan .period to tlie present day. . In the 140 years since it first delighted Drury Lano it has never failed to convulse an - audience or to pay its producers. Thejplay is therefore worth going to see on its merits. Secondly tho production should • bo patronised' because .it is an experiment which may lead to satisfactory developments from the play-goers' point of view. Amateurs are apt to regard the staging of Shakespearean and other costume plays as out of reach,'owing to'the expense of-mounting them. To produce "The Rivals" in the ordinary modern way would require nino sots of sconory, several of them elaborate, several put on more than onco. Apart I.from the very serious expense involved, 'this can, of coursc, only be.done in a theatre with its full range of appliances and its staff, and not, as this is, in a mere ball. Be it remembered that tho Elizabethans were able to appreciate our greatest dramas without the aid of scenery, and anyone who has seen these masterpieces well acted in costumo on a plain curtained stage realises how infinitely superior is tho. setting readily provided by the imagination to the inadequate or over-elaborated setting pro- . vided by tho modern manager. No one could doubt this who has been privileged to'seo the plays of Shakespeare and Sheridan followed with breathless or vociferous interest by audiences in the poorest part of London; audiences prepared to pay for admittance, and as often as not to stand all through a long performance, and to come again tho next Saturday night wanting more of the same good faro. Once get ovor the difficulty of scenery, and it will bo easy enough' to get costumes, as thoy have in London, avnilablo for . hire. An advertisement in this issue gives particulars of the arrangemonts made for the performance.