THE THEATRE.

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2504, 3 July 1915, Page 11

THE THEATRE.

. £Br SII.TITJBJ Ih0; World's a tieatrej the Earth' a etatre.—Hejwood. "A Message from Mars."The Plimmer-Hall Company, -which' recently toured New Zealand in tlie interests of the Belgian and.other funds, and which handed over £3520 as the result, is to commence a short season at the Grand Opera House on Monday, July 12. For their return they have selected for production K-ichara Ganthony's clever comedy, "A Message from Mars," which is a. quaint conceit dealing with selfishness in an acute form, and a very fantastic method of. effecting its cure. On this occasion Mr. Harry Plimmer will play the role of Horace Parker (the most selfish man in London), and Mr. Winter-Hall will appear as the messenger from the planet Mars.. Granville Barker's Ideate. Granville Barker, who has done so much for the stage during recent years in London, lias been interesting New York theatre-goers profoundly with his new ideas on stage productions. His wife {Miss Lillah M'Carthy), who' was Wilson Barrett's leading lady in New Zealand, was recently interviewed in New York. In the course of her remarks she' said:..-" - "My husband and I are one, also, in the idea, of, an. ideal theatre.' tt would be a double • theatre, -two j playhouses in one, for convenience built stage to stage. . One would be a workshop in which artists '. could, experiment while the other would,.be the theatre proper. ■In the workshop theatre the artists could design scenes. The costumier could: strive there for telling effects. 'Ao various systems, of lighting could be tried, and all new devices for -the - stage worked ■ out. In this: workshop theatre, at private rehearsals, the drar niatist could-try his new plays and so detect their defentcs./One of dur most marked shortcomings in the theatre today is that we take so little thought of trial , performances; -In this, our ideal theatre, we would have' a gymnasium. Gymnastics and| dancing would bo .'taught there to giveipoise of-body. And experienced actors should and would give gladly of their services for the . sake-of establishing the best stan-dards-of the stage. "In anr thoroughly in accord with my husband in the way lie goes about a new play that ha is to do. He .first determines -what he torms tho practicalities of the play. That is, what kind-of play it is and . what manner of treatment it requires. He . works as hard as a draughtsman on such apparent trivialities ,as' exits and openings, ■ what we .class as the l physical side , of a play. One great truth about my husband is :that- there is not: a Granville .Barker sohool, or manner of treatment. He.attacks, each new . play with all the freshness of view and openness to im: ; pression ; and desire for individual treats ineht ast-hough he were a beginner. He .haß't no set'iorm of production, not oven the'matter ,of lighting. Every new play is a now problem." ' ' "Alsaoe." '■ ! War plays are the vogue in Paris just as they arci in London and .AmerSome are bbrn of . the present Titanic struggle - f otliprs are plays written years ajM, which'in some form or other foresliaaoiy ' the second Franca-German •war. those produced in March last was '-'Alsace," by MM. Gaston Lei'oux and Lucion Caniille, a play written and produced .'.two years ago. ' Briefly, the story of ."Alsace" : s as follows:—, "An Alsatian widow has been expelled.from Alsace because of her husband's j French - sympathies ;' sflie has a grown- I up son who performed his. military service in the German army; Jacques is the name of the son. In the first act tho'woman returns to her Alsatian home after a number of years. - Rejano plays tlio woman, aiid . the part loses nothing from li'er handling of it. . We learn that Jacques .is in love with', Marguerite/ the daughter of a; German family that live in the neighbourhood. The whole of the act-is taken up by Rejane's, patriotic speteohes and an appeal to her son not to marry a German.' We see various, phases of German irule in Alsace and hear what,. Alsatians ,lia7o put, up with there. An effective curtain is provided by a number of people : - singing the "Marseillaise" 'in ■ hushed voices, with the , shutters'closed.: In the next act Jacques: has married the German girl anr.-lives with' his wife's.-pai-uiits) who are never 'tired of singing the praises of Germany.: There aro family bickerings about this and quarrels between Jacques's , wife: and 'mother. There are jfoohsh but amusing caricatures of German types in/this - act.. : In tho' third and . last act we are on the brink of war; the German army has heen mobilised/ A cleverly written. sceiie 'between Jackues and his [wife ends in tlie man going away to rejoin the Germany army. His mother comes in to . know where he is. "Gone to do his duty," replies the wife triumphantly.'/ There aro. cries without.of "Down with France!" "Vive la France I" cries Jacques and gets shot.. He totters into the room and falls dead, in his mother's arms. His wife goes to him, but tlie mother frustrates her, say:ing, "You can't havo him now; he's mine."- Curtain.: . : .: . Notes. v. ■ The S.elig Picture Company-paid Mr. Harold M'Grath the sum .of 12,000, dollars for-the scenario of the 27-reel picture, "Tho Adventures .of Kathleen," which was presented -in . picture form , in 200 newspapers: weekly simultaneously to the picture heing shown in the theatres of the/some cities. The 'Vitagrapli Picture' Company of the United States has a pay-roll of £6000 weekly. Its stock companies are 1 located in; New York, Los Angeles, and olier pars oft America, comprise more than 150 players, including several former stars of the oral stage. At Christmas time the sum of £10,000 was distriubted .amongst' the firm's employees in presents, Mr. Bert Bailey, who has been farming at- 'Lake Macquarie, has returned to Sydney to figure as Dad once more in that successful play of _ Australian character, "On Our Selection."/, Coming direct from his own selection; Mr. Bailey should bo able to got in some' very fine work as tho ancient bucolic.. "How did Messrs. Lechmere Worrall and J. E. Harold Terry, the authors of- "The Man Who Stayed at Home," become acquainted with the methods of the Gorman spies, as disclosed in tho play?" The Daily Mail" caused something of a sensation by .supplying the-answer. It.was that tho authors nad had tho unofficial assistance of a Secret-Service officer, but that tlio latter's co-operation was known to tlio War Office authorities. It was suggested that the exposure of spies' methods would have good result in awakening the public to tho' danger around them, and putting tlidm on tho alert to watch for and detect'tho-pre-sence of the alien danger in their midst. . ' ' „Miss- Gertrude'iKingston, tlio.famous English actress, Who was connected with' the Little Theatre, London, for a long time, is deeply regretting the visit of a Zeppelin to-Colchestor (England). Miss Kingston owns a fine homo in the locality, and tho airship dropped a homb on her beautifully laid-out Italian garden, damaging not only tho garden but wrecking a room containing hei val'jable "Cromwell's Chair." ■