SAILORS FRIEND SOCIETY

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2602, 26 October 1915, Page 8

SAILORS FRIEND SOCIETY

An all (lay picnic was held at the Sailors' Friend Society yesterday. Owing to the wet weather, tho picnic was held indoors. Various games wore indulged in by tho men, uiicier the guidance of the Missionor_ (Mr. 'loore). Refreshments wero _ partaken of during the day and evening. In Sho evening a musical programme was provided by Mr. Boyd ana party, and prizes • won (luring the day wore distributed. The following wero tho performers:—Misses Jones (2) and E. Thomson, and Master K. Thomson, Massrs. Shearer, Finch, and Hills (Star of Australia); pianists, Misses Bishop, Jones, and Mr. Hill. Flowers ,wero provided by Misses Kreeft and Morrali. Jrize-winners wero: Mrs. Oram, Miss Scatehard (2), Messrs. Fane (2), Hills (2), Elliott, Galloway, Murphy, Kanaley, Kuox, and Robertson, numbering members of tho crews of the s.s. Maori, Star of Australia, and_ Arawa.

George Barnum, who has staged a whole buncli of plays for J. C. Williamson, Ltd., including "Potash and Perlmutter" and "The Man Who Stayed at Home," has a keen eye for detail and will 1 negleot nothing, however small or unimportant it might appear, to achicve the desired effect. "I want what I want when I want it" sums up Mr. Barnum's attitudo in this rospect, and generally he gets it. If lie doesn't, it's an impossibility. Particularly important to Mr. Barnnm is the creation of the requisite atmosphere in a production, and his ideas on this import-ant point aro borne out in his latest production, "Nobody's Widow," tho American comedy in which Muriel Starr is appearing at ths Theatre Royal, Melbourne. Tho piece is lavishly staged, every detail of the furnishing being on a sumptuous scale, lu one stage setting the bric-a-brac and ornaments alone cost no less than £300. One statuette is valued at twenty guineas. "No," replied Mr. Barnum, in answer to a question, "property fixings would not suit mo; I had to -have the real thing, and tho firm did not grudgo the expense. You see, the characters in this play are supposed to bo people who move in fashionable and wealthy circles. And how could tho artists obtain the desired effect, and feel tho real atmosphere, if they wero surrounded by furniture and 'fixings that were made by tho property man and were obviously imitation?"