THE THEATRE.

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2699, 19 February 1916, Page 11

THE THEATRE.

The World's a theatre; the Earth n stage.—Hey wood. FBy StmxusJ Mr, Vaohel's Latest. Commenting upon "Who is He'" Horace Atmesley Vachel's latest comedy, the London "Truth" 6ays: "It is a very clever piece of work, because on the face of it you would hardlv think it ijossiblo to turn the theme of Jack-the-Ripper _ into a fragTant comedy. But that is what tho dramatist has done. Very delicately he suggests the sinister hack-ground, and show 6 how the young nobleman, who, broken-hearted, seeks to live in disguise in a Bloomsbury boardiugliouscjj is suspectcd of being a London terror, but the light of the play is far stronger than the shade. 'What everybody laughs over whole-heartedly— and I laughed as much as anyone elseare the suspicions of the landlord and landlady over their certainly somewhat eccentric boarder and his love affair with the pretty typist who occupies a room in the same building. He has come there jilted and heartbroken, and he gets lis .heart mended on the rebound. Everyone except the little typist thinks no is a desperate criminal. She Hunks he is merely ilr. Parker, and loves him as that. When, after sticking to him with unswerving faith in his Innocence, in spite of the advent of a posse of police, she discovers that he is Lord Twyford, of Twyford, of course Me is thrown off her feet. In Tennyson's well-known ]x>era the Lord of Burleigh found that his, so to speak, beggar maid wilted and died in the face of the grandeur before her, but not so Irene Harding. She asks her noble lover, Lord Twyford, if he will consent to remain Mr. Parker for her sake, and when Ainley nobly says yes, like a good girl she sacrifices herself, and Kays that for his sake she will consent to become Lady Twyford. Some women are like that.'' William Gillette Honoured. Mr. William Gillette is justly famous as an actor, a stage director, and a playwright; but (says "Collier's) of these three titles to remembrance, the last is likely to prove tho most enduring. His art an actor will ccase to,, bo when he lias said his last farewell;' and his deftness as a stage director, despite a probable eiidurancu of its influence, may be forgctton after lie has finally retired from the theatre; but two of his plays at least—"Secret Service and "Sherlock Holmes"—seem destined to survive him for not less thaii half a century. At a meeting of tho American Academy of Arts and Letters, held in Boston on November 18, 1915, Mr. Gillette was elected to membership in the carefully selected fifty; and this election was a tribute, to his permanent contribution as an ' author for the stage. Only one other American dramatist has been similarly honoured —Mr. Augustus Thomas: both Brouson Howard _ and Clyde J'itcli having been cut off from candidacy by the r.ccident of death. J. C. Williamson, Ltd., and Pictures. "he. decision of the J. C. Williamson management to convert tho Sydney Theatre Itayai into a.'picture house is a significant piece of theatrical intelligence. Mr. Hugh J. Ward states that it in 110 way niters the general policy of tho linn. "The Iheatre Royal has been a booking house for some years," he says. "It has been at the disposal of other managements, as we always havo beTicved in encouraging opposition if only lor purposes of comparison." He states that the booking has not been availed of to an extent that would justify its continuance. ,"We have for some time considered tlie question of converting the Royal into a picture theatre," Mr. Ward added. "Its unique position in the heart of tho city makes it a remarkable site for this popular form of entertainment. However, the prestige of the iirm domand- ! eu pictures, only on the highest scale of excellence beforo wc could make this departure. When I was recently in America I saw the Fox films, which are generally recognised in the moving picture world as the finest standard of pictures. Upon the representatives of the company coming to Australia, I negotiated their films "with them, and in a fortnight we will'have the Royal in shape to accommodate lovers of pictures. We intend to do everything in iho matter of presentation' of the iiures to give them their full value. Our presentation will bo on the lines of the Strand Theatre, New York, which Is tho last word in showing pictures. We look to tho experiment as meeting a large public ready for the very best that the world can produce. In the taxifeatures we can safely say we have i/nat. We will commence with "Carmen" a fortnight hence."

Notes. ."The. Martyrdom of Nurse Cavell," with Miss Vera Pearce as Nurse Cavell, fe one of the latest announcements in the Australian picture world. Speaking at the graveside of the late Mr. George Titheradge, Mr'. Walter Bentley said: "Friends who surround this grave, I have been asked to express, on behalf of the brothers and sisters of the profession, our regret that our dearly-beloved brother has passed away, and our gladness that his sorrow and pain are now over. He has left behind noble lessons for ns to profit by. In the hour of his extremity Frohmann said: 'The greatest adventure of life is death!' Our dearlyloved friend who now lies in this, his narrow cell, said towards the end that his duty had been done. His was a good ending to a grand career; he was a prince among actors, and a gentleman among gentlemen. His mode of life was such as to leave a legacy of profit for us. I trust that in the." future state we shall all meet again, where there is no ■ more pain, 'no sorrow, no suffering. In that great hope I leave this beautifully-situated grave, so near to the home that he made and loved so well. May he rest, as he lived, in peace." "Tith's" place of burial is in that most beautiful of all cemeteries in Australia, that at South Head, overlooking from the heights the mighty expanse of the Pacific Ocean. Commencing on March 1 animated pictures of the heavy-weight champion, ship fight between Jack Johnson and Jesse Willard will be screened at the Town Hall. Madame August Strindberg, widow of the Swedish author, is to supervise a group of her husband's plays.in New York at Easter.