THE THEATRE.

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2337, 19 December 1914, Page 13

THE THEATRE.

" ; —9 ■ -. .- PT. SYLVIUS.] We World's a taeatre; the EartH a stage.—Heywood. bur Christmas Fare. , Theatrioally our Christmas fare will 3)9 Mr. Julius and a fairly fetrong oompany in a series of revivals, jsome almost as old as some of the other irevivals that come with Yuletide. Once jmore we are to see Julius Knight in (the toga of Marcus Superbus in "The Bign oi the Cross,." with the gentle JLizette Parkes as Mercia, and Miss (Browne as the haughty Berenice. Once Wain we are to see that clever comedy, Beaudaire," in' whioh Mr. iKnight is declared by many of his adknirer3 to be at his best, and' again we J,re to Bee the popular actor bestriding* .the stage as the "Little Corporal" in {"A Royal Divorce,";with special effects Ito rouse the simmering, patriotism of tthe playgoers, and, maybe, that excellent romantio play, "The Scarlet Pimpernel," will figure- in .the repertoire. AVhilst we admire Mr. Knight sincerely an some of, the roles he has appeared in, It would have given a zest to.the season . if at least one new play were included. (Wellington is worth' it at Christma6v -,lime.- .{- ' T— Woo Much Honour. ( It'was whilst . M'Kee Rankin, the yAmerioan aotor, was at the height of (his fame playing the heroio lead in the jbiggest success that he ever made. "The fDanites," that the most comically emIbarrassing inoident befell him. He was rused to being applauded to the echo »n his first appearance, and one .evening - in San Francisco he' was greeted With the usual, salvo, but instead of |the applause dying down as was usual, ;it was sustained until seconds ran onto minutes, and still the actor kept on (bowing, inwardly delighted at the imtpression he,thought he was making. fat length he began to think that too [much honour was being ,done him, and wondering why, he turned to behold a (little grey-headed man bowing stiffly to the audience, He knew him at once— it was General Sheridan 1

p'Hls House In Order" Again. Speaking of the' revival of "His House in Order," at the London St. James's Theatre, a critic writes: "The acting was of' high quality all- round, and in the ca6e of" Miss Irene Varibrugh really brilliant. She is never so good as when she has to be semi-hysterical i and to abandon herself to a nerve-storm. |Every quiver, everysob, every outburst !of ! . passion, seems not so much acted, jas; wrung out of her. We have seldom iseen the actress in finer, form. Sir 'George Alexander, too, was thoroughly 'at home; easy, suave, good-humoured, ■obviously enjoying even the lengthy apologuos and the dictionary-English'. ■Mr; Lyall Swete was an immense figure of fun. But, as we have said, they were all good, all up to the St. James's 'high-water mark, and people in search 'of innocent., distraction from the cares of ; tho time ought not to miss this ■notable revival" . .

f'The Double Mystery." ! The London" "Times" says of "The (Double Mystery," just produced at the (•London Garrick by Arthur Bourchier: | "What we especially enjoy in- 'The (Double Mystery' is the. 'polioy of thorough' with which the authors have [tackled their A+B. A is a high-minded HudgO; and B is a ferocious burglar. fThat is a promising 6tart. And B actually burgles his own (that is to say, ;'A'6) house. That is better still. But fthe real trouvaille is this: In the very L'mciment of the burglary B changes back Ftp' A. Imagine the astounding effect lon'B's fellow-burglars! To he suddenly brought up for examination before the .man who-a moment ago was .partici- . pating in their crime I ■"'■■ And imagine

the no lesß astounding effect on A of 1 the charge that he,_ the worthy magistrate, is a low thief! Indignant incredulity gives way to self-doubt, and then, by little piece after piece of material evidence, to the horrible certainty that, the charge is true. Very ingeniously managed, this, and we will not spoil sport by telling how. "Of course, the final stage is the elimination of B. That is not altogether convincing, perhaps. It is a case of exciting volition. Make an effort, says the doctor to A; recall B to your memory, realise him, and then cast him out for ever. It is not to be done 'in once,' but I'll be always there to help you. Now, tiings that are not to be done in once, that will not bo completed until long after the curtain is down, are not dramatio, certainly not melodramatic. You feel baulked, you wanted the devil B to be cast out under your nose. But it was not to be..', Sacrifices,' in these modern enlightened days, must be made to science. Psychopathology oblige! i Mr. Bourchier is said to be immensely dignified as A, and properly low and ferocious es B. Successful N.Z. Actor. Mr. Robert Noble (Beasley) the New Zealand actor who has made such good progress in England, is at present on tour' with Mr. Fred Terry and Miss Julia Neilson. Recently Mr. Noble offered his services to his country, hut owing to a slight defect to one of his toes, his serviceß were declined. Mr. Noble has had the.beßt of training ui classical drama and comedy in the F. R. Benson Company, in which he has played such classic roles as "Richelieu and "Hamlet." The Terrys were in Glasgow on October 15 playing "Sweet Nell" and "The Scarlet Pimpernel."-

Old Lamps for New, ■ The' theatrical attractions for the Christmas season in New Zealand this year may be said to be noted by a welldefined mellowness born of many years of popular approval. Indeed the keen playgoer, who endeavours to keep up with the times by reading Home and American papers and magazines', could 'very logically be excused from wishing that any play should be a phenomenal sucoess in Australasia,- because it invariably means a series of revivals, which assist in barring the public from witnessing that which is new.' And if theotruth were told, the revival is seldom such an artistic performance as the original, for the simple reason that an established success is riot presumed to call for so strong a cast as the revival —lie play stands on its name more than on its performance. It is a coincidence that : this Christmas, will see so many revivals in the centres. Auckland is fortunate in having a new opera com- . pany in the Gilbert-Sullivan operas, revivals of which can only be regarded as perpetual blessings. They are. the olassics of the comic opera world, and must be as eagerly welcomed by the new, generation as by those who can. hum most of the airs. , In Wellington we are to have Mr. Julius Knight and Co. in well-worn romantic drama.-. In Dimedin the Willoughby Company is keeping pace with revivals of "Caraille'! and 'Hinder Two Flags," and'not to be, altogether out of it the principal theatre in Christchurch is to fall to pictures with a fine flavour of frosty winter of years about the subjeots, which are "The Lights o' London" and' "Tho Silence of Dean Maitland." ■ Eyes to See. 1 How slow Australian managements ■ are to recognise real talent 1 Miss Liz- ■ ette Parkes was in the "Firm's" em- • ploy years and years ago, and they i could see no good in her. Then "Peter • Pan" came, and she gave a perfectly ' delightful performance under a management extraneous | to .that of/^.C.W., • Ltd. Even that did not convince the ' powers that be.. Mr. Harry Plimmer J engaged her and found her services I treasurable in comedy-drama^—always-sweet on and off the stage, very teacn-

able, and always desirous to learn. Finally Lewis Waller found Miss Parkos ohock full of talent, and now Bhe plays Marcia to Julius Knight's Maxous in "The Sign of the Cross." The case of Dorothy Brunton is not quite so queer, but Dorothy, who may have been ill-fitted with parts, has always shown very clearly that she can do nothing that is absolutely wrong. Hor intuition is all the other way, and her intelligence beams as a star. Yet she had to be content with a poor sort of ingenue part in "Gipsy Love," whilst the "imports" strutted vainly in all the pomp and pride of leads. Yet Dorothy outshone them all. . . . Since then others have come from England to play in "The Girl in the Taxi." but MiBS Brunton is now one of the leads. It can be said with a good deal of truth that Miss Parkes has won her success by the process of exhaustion, and Miss Brunton hers by process of elimination. Both young ladies are still on the. sunny side of 25.

Notes. . The Christmas attractions in the Dominion centres this year will be" as follow ;—Auckland, the GilberW3ullivan Opera Company; Wellington, the Julius Knight Dramatio Company:' Christchurch, tho "Silence of, Dean Maitland" picture-play (Chas. MaoMahon); Dunedin, the Willoughby Dramatio Company.

Mt. Jaok Cannot, the oomedian, who has been so long with J. C .Williamson. Ltd., has joined the Tivoli foroes, and will appear in a 76 minutes' revue to be produced in Sydney shortly. , l

The Repertory Theatre in_ Melbourne, which is under the direction of Mr. Grogan M'Mahon, will shortly produoe G. B. Shaw's play, "The Philanderer." Miss Beatrioe Day is at present cooperating witl Mr. M'Mahon.

Mr. Hugh D. M'lntosh was welcomed by the directors of Tivoli Theatres, Ltd., on his return to Sydney, and keen satisfaction was expressed at the nature of the engagements made ahead for the Australian Tivoli circuit. The company has paid £30,000, in dividends for 15 months.

Miss Irby Marshall, the Australian actress, last with the Julius Knight Company in Australia, made her first appearance in America in New York, in a play entitled "The Elder Son." The play was a failure:

George Cohan's latest play, "The Miracle Man," produced in New York in October, is unfavourably reviewed by some of the critics. His comedy, "Seven Keys to Baldpate," is a wonderful success, and is being played by no fewer than seven companies in the States.

M. Volinin,' the graceful male dancer; who was in Wellington with Mdlle. Genee, is now partnered with Pavlova, the brilliant Russian dancer.

When passing through Wellington a few days ago, Miss Dolly Castles (principal girl in the Williamson pantomime this year) stated that her sister, Miss Eileen Castles, was at present a momber of the Century Opera Company, in New York. At latest advices Miss Amy Castles was in Milan.

Miss Gwenn Linden, who will be the principal Mr. William Anderson's pantomime "Sinbad" at Christmas, has filled that role no fewer than eight times in England. The principal girl in the same pantomime at the King's Theatre will be Mi6s Rita Reuas.

Mr. Eardley Turner is a member of the Julius Knight Company due here next week. Mr. Turner is a writer of talent, as well as a good character actor, and his merry verse not infrequently honours the "Bulletin."

Mr. Frank Musgrove writes:—l wish to inform you that Miss Nellie Stewart supported by a strong dramatic company, will pay a visit to New •Zealand early in the New Year. The repertoire will consist of "Madame Du Barry," "Dorothy o' the Hall," "Sweet Nell of Old Drury," and probably one other play.