THE THEATRE.

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2675, 22 January 1916, Page 9

THE THEATRE.

The World's a theatre; tho Earth a Gtage.—Haywood.

IBi SylmusJ "The Dancing Mistress." Other than "Gipsy Love," produced at the Grand Opera House last evening, the only new bill included in the repertoire of the Royal Cbmic Opera Co. is "The Dancing Mistress," which was staged in Australia some years ago, but never found its way to New Zealand. This musical play was written by James T. Tanner, with lyrics by Adrian Ross, and music by Lionel Monckton. Of "The Dancing Mistress," tho Sydney "Daily Telegraph" said:—"There are several musical plays that have of recent years enjoyed success,- but of all of these it! would seem tnat the now play—the 'Dancing Mistress' —dances to a still mare triumphant tune, i In every way it> is stronger in that valuable dramatic element contrast, tho characterisation; is more strongly marked, and tho individuality of each artist is given more play. There is a deal of the lilting melody, the ready wit, the captivating personalities of the leading artists." As to the plot, it would: appear that the author in the first place intended quite a serious love episOTe between "Bella Peaoh" and "Lord Lyndale," an English peer in the disguise of a riding master. When the curtain rises we are introduced to the mistresses attached to the Down House School, an aristocratic seminary for young ladies. Buxom and -breezy Madam Touchet instructs the girls in French, and surreptitiously indulges in an unconquerable and unprofitabie propensity for gambling. Madam Tduchet has taken under her wing Jeannie'-Mac-Tavish, .the young Dancing Mistress, who is in love with a certain famous aviator, Teddy Kavanagh, both of whom loom largely in the play. There is also a wicked French Baron, whose machinations at. one time bid 'fair to upset the eiven tenor of the way of the 'overs. But poetical justice is ddne in the last act which is a scene of luxurious splendour, for the lottery .ticket has turned up trumps, having drawn a prize of £20,000. As .if to contradict the old saw that "enough is as good as a feast." There are also two delightfully comic characters in a sporting butler (Widdicomb), and tha other the tucik-woman of tho school, while Lady Babby contributes a picture of English aristocratic stateliness.

Miss Sarah Aillgood, Miss Sarah Allgood, who has been engaged to play; me name part in the iorthcoming J. and N. Tait production of "Peg o' My Heart" in Australia and New Zealand, has won an immense success in that oomedy in England. Miss Allgood has been described as the incarnation of' all that is sweot and beautiful in "Peg;" and she certainly brings to the portrayal of the role the be-' witching brogue and elusive half smile that make the' Irish heroine an unforgettable figure. It must he said in explication of the artist's triumphs, however, that' she has had wide experience as an Irish interpreter. An Irishwoman born and bred, she was one of the first; of Ireland's young intellectual actresses to be drtwn into the Irish theatre movement, which was inaugurated at the Abbey Theatre, Dublin. Miss Allgood's talent soon brought her to the front of the Irish placers, and to-day she is tho most celebrated member of that famous combination, with some lifelike portraits of Synge and Yeats's characters to her credit. Sho is bound to become a, remarkable attraction in Australia, , where a person, ality so full of Irish wit and sympathy as "Peg'.' is always sure of the warmest welcome. ' Crowing Smaller,. . In the usual course of nature a man grows tailor until he has reached the limit of- his growth; and then ho stops. But this order of things has been reversed in the, case of Albert Felino, now appearing in "Mother Goose" at Her Majesty's, Melbourne; for after playing ca,ts, dogs, donkeys, geese, and other quaint things thousands of times ho has gradually grown/shorter. Tho is that he has ito adopt a crouching attitude, or walk with knees bent. "The'golden goose in the 'Mother Goose' pantomime,'' explained Mr. Felino, "is the most trying of -all roles of tho zoological kind, as it means not only supporting an enormous weight the whole of the time, but throughout the performance I am never atile to maintain an erect or normal position. My knees are bent all the time, 1 and I have to walk like that or waddle from side to. side. Since I took to playing roles like these I havo lost five inches in height. I- had the distinction of forming the subject of an examination in London last "year by some of the most noted medical men, who wero; extremely curious regarding my loss of , stature. Three pages were devoted to the matter in the leadine medical journal"

Ahead of London. I On more than one occasion 1 J. 0. Williamson, Ltd., have got ahead of London and New York in their production first in Australia of various dramas and musical plays. For example: Australia say "The Whip"-before lit was staged in Now_ York, "Within the Law," "High Jinks," and "Get-.Rich-Quick" Wallingford' before London audiences saw, them; and other instances could be quoted in this connection.; But "So Long, Letty," has been produced in Sydney before even New- York saw it—and for a musical play that comes froiji America this is a pretty good record. Mr. Hugh J. Ward saw "So Long, Lotty," at Los Angeles, and was so impressed with it that he immediately bought the Australasian rights, and forthwith hurried on arrangements for its production in this country. Thepiusical play had not then been staged' in Now York, the first production being given at Los Angeles. Up to the present it has not yet seen the light' in London. A "Nervy" Experience. Misses Belle and Betty, tie two charming dancers recently arrived for the Fuller Vaudeville Circuit, havo had several exciting experiences during tho last few months, while they were ap-', pearing at Hull in tho Alexandra: Theatre, last June, an air raid took' place one evening, while these young ladies were on the stage 'giving their performance. In the middle of their turn the warning "buzzers," which to the townsfolk of Hull means "air raid," sounded, and immediately there was the wildest confusion and excitement in the theatre. Although there was no panic, tho audience evinced a strong desire to get outside as quickly as possible, and tho stage manager did the only thing possible, and rang down the curtain. The young ladies got dressed ts quickly as possible, and were in the streets in time to see the Zeppelins making their departure after killing in this raid 150 people. On the Vaudeville Circuit. Mr. Ben Fuller, in a letter from San Francisco to Mr. Douglas, general manager of the Fuller circuit in Sydney, says that he has not only hooked a large number of attractions for the circuit, but has decided to adopt a number of novel ideas in theatre management. Some of tho innovations refer even to orchestral devices, stage lighting, and auditorium arrangements. One difiiculty he has experienced with his bookings, and that is that in his attempt to skim the cream off American vaudeville, he has hit up. against the fact that the big star attractions aro sll under lucrative contract®. Not only .has ho .had to h!4 kick for. them* but [,

in a number of cases tlic artists -will not bo able to sail for Australia until their local contracts are finished. But, be adds, he foels confident that tho Australian public will justify lis enterprise. As a result of his energies a big contingent of artists is leaving San Francisco by tho next American mail steamer, and arrangements lave heen made for others to leave by successive; mail steamers, and thus keep up a constant flow of new artists with headline turns. Under-g.tudies for "Dog-Actors." "Even dog-actors have to have understudies. The manager of the Globe. Theatre, where "Peg o' My Heart" is being played,- forgot to appraise that maxim at its full value. The result was that when Miss Lauretta Taylor, who played Peg, needed chango of air and went out of the.bill to.get it .the theatre was left without the two dogs who took part in every performance of tho play. The dogs—Miohael and Fluff—were Miss Taylor's private property. They were more than'that: they were her pets., and when she.went for a holiday the dogs went with her, and there was no contract to state otherwise. At very short notice, therefore, when the fox terrier and the Yorkshire terrier went to the country the management had to get two "colourable imitations" of tha original dogs, and although the dogman who negotiated the deal vouched for tho honesty of the dogs, he could not ■ make them bark, and so had stand in the wings and give the best # imitation he. could for the two silent little fellows. Now, however, ihe pair, having at last grown accustomed io tho stage • and the compam, have com to' understand what is required of them, and have perfectly memorised every bark that is marked down m the hook. That Naughty Word.

Slowly but very surely the Australasian stage is becoming Americanised. We are being drugged, or perhaps I should say "doped" into the practice of AmericaJi ways, into the use of American words and phrases, •• and 'to. view all things through American instead , of honest English' spectacles. Through their plays, and books, and pictures we are all unconsciously coming to regard that which is Englishconservative English—in books and plays, as something too veiled, perhaps rather abstruse for these hurry days, and, on the whole, "a bit slow." Ihe American dramatist either cannot write or seeks to avoid a fine phrase or polished ;period. Ho goes in for plain words in a plain setting, sentences "with a punch," garnished as ofteu as not with the slang of the day, aoid decorated nearly always with a swear word (spoken, of course, by the most adorable young- lady in tbo cast for effect's sake), the use of which twenty years ago would' have made people ■jump from theii seats. Now Bucb cheap means to an end are received with a slight smile, and are considered smart. In "Bought and Paid For," Miss Muriel Starr ends an act by spitting, out the wo.'ds, "I'm going to marry you—damn you I" And during the interval this bit of daring talks keeps the women folk chattering. But is it clever to put such 4 sentence into the mouth of a pretty girl? If so, why stop at a mere "damn" or so. Why not 1 go. the whole hog, and use the whole of the Billingsgate vocabulary at once. Another damn is spoken by a' female character in "Under Cover." English dramatists have often used the word in question, and G. B. Shaw has iued one just a little rnoro lurid, but as a; rulo (Shaw is the. exception to every rule), the habit of women swearing om the stage lias not been.cultivated. Such giants as Sardou and Dumas did not find it necessary to indulge' in the use of the word merely to produce an effect. , They could always iiud language infinitely more ' forcible and impressive to express an idea or emotion, without lowering the character concerned. , The habit of swearing becomes no one at any time; and on the stage it sets an example that cannot be considered edifying. American 'writers, too, are amazingly blunt in their', suggestiveness. ■ The palm for that sort' of thing was formerly held by the French, but the French were delicacy personified compared with the straight talk indulged in by some of the plays from America. If a censor is needed for the pictures, his duties could perhaps bo extended to the stage proper. Where is it all to endp

In the revival of "Our Miss Gibbs" next week, Mt. Leslie Holland will repeat his amusing performance of _ the lion. Hughio Pierrpoint, Mr. Reginald ttob'erts will be the volatile Slithers, while a new Timothy Gibbs will be seen in Mr. Phil Smith. Again Mr. Claude Batitock will appear as the Earl of St. fves; the important part of Lord GynsforcLwill bo-played for the first time here by Mr. Derek Hudson. Much, interest will be evinced in the appearance of Miss Florence Young as the society leader, Mrs. Farquhar, while Miss Ethel Cadman will appear inthe role of Lady Elizabeth Thanet. Miss Maggie Moore should be finely fitted as the aristocratic Duchess of Minster.