THE THEATRE

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2866, 2 September 1916, Page 6

THE THEATRE

(By "Sylvius.")

Shakespeare. On September 9, Wellington is to have tho opportunity of witnessing Shakespeare's -masterpiece of tragedy "Hamlet" onco more. It' is two .years since this play was staged in its entirety in "Wellington, and never, curiously enough, liavo we had an inspirational Ilamlet, that is, a performance of the role by an actor of admitted artistic eminence such as Koan, Booth, Kemble, Or. V. Brooke, Sir Henry Irving, or Forbes Robertson. Sound performances of the part have been given, of course, from time to time, but the great' old tragedians (whom wo would now, perhaps, think horribly stagoj') were wont to lift their audiences out of their seats by-tho sheer force of their magnetic power. The last Hamlet wo saw was Mr. H. B. Irving, a curiously unsatisfactory performance. : His was a neurotic, fanciful, moody Hamlet, who gabbled and mouthed incoherently all through, and never attempted to impress tho audience with tho profound depths of Hamlet's'great grief. Before, many years before H: B. Irving, Walter Bentley (now of Sydney) gavo a very scholarly and sympathetic reading of tho part, and, prior to that Charles -Warner knt dramatic dignitv and virile strength to tho role. fife made a . very handsome and robust Hamlot—tho type of mau who would hardly haro waited for the poison cup to remove his father's I murderer, from the earth. Beforo Warnor,' Geo. C. Miln, a, short, stocky, actor, played tho Dane rather well, i and away back in the misty past Bandmann, Wm. Hoskins, Louise Pomeroy, W. J. Sheridan, Harkins, and other noted actors of tho '70's essayed the role with more or. less success. On this occasion Mr. Allan "Wilkin is to don the inky cloak of the Melancholy Prince, and his wife (Miss F, HunterWatts) will be his Ophelia. The season .will 'bo simply a riot of Shakespearean plays. We are to seo "The Merchant. o.f Venice." "Richard III," "As You Liko It," "Twelfth Night," and "Othello." And tho woijder of it is that the public are to be accommodated with seats at 35., 25., and Is., which is getting back to Bland Holt times-with a vengeance. Filmlets. Moving -pictures'of' the German transAtlantic submarine Deutschsland, as she lay in Baltimore immediately after her arrival J'rom Germany,, are "being shown in Sydney. "Neptune's Daughter," featuring Annette Kcllerman, is to be shown through New Zealand again, commencing next, month: 'llio Fox Films, Ltd., are opening a bureau in Willis Street (Morrah's Building) in order to do direct business witii the whole of the picture theatre managements in Now Zealand. The Fox Films are superlatively lino creations, which have mot with a success almost sensational ill Australia. Among the great artists under tho control of Mr. Fox are Miss l'heda Bara, Miss Nance O'Neil, and •< Mr. Robert Mantcll (America's greatest tragedian)., . "Peg" on Tour. J. and N.;Tait have arranged for a New Zealand tour of "Peg o' My Heart" to follow the present successful season of the comedy at the lung's Theatre, Melbourne. The tour will lie inaugurated at Wellington on October' 10. 'After a few nights in Wellington the company travels to Auckland, opening there on October 26.. Subsequently' "Peg" goes to the South Island, and will be seen, for the first time in Dunedin on November 16, the G'hristohurch season following on November 29. En route-between the four principal cities, "Peg o' My Heart" will be, presented in some of the smaller cities and | towns. - The places promised a visit are Gisboriie, Wanganui, Palmerston North, Hastings, Napier,Masterton, | Oamaru, Timaru, and Invoreargill. "The Sentimental Blolie.". The many people who have read "The Sentimental Bloke," by C. J.-Dennis, will bo interested to learn that Lawrence Campbell, the brilliant Australian olocutionist, has arranged to give recitals of selections from that famous book, commencing in Sj'dney on September 9. At the conclusion of his Sydney season, Mr. Campbell comes to Melbourne, opening there on September 23, and, subsequently he will make a tour of New Zealand. Good judges regard liini as being particularly 'fitted to reveal/the"humour and quaint underlying nobility of Dennis's liero. In addition to his elocutionary gifts,-Mr. Campbell has marked ' ability as an actor, also a magnetism and charm that make his entertainments irresistible. Tho tour is undor the direction of J. and N. Tait. \ New York Successes. Outside of-•tho regular theatres, which aro given over to moving-picture shows, six (says the New York "Post" of July 15)/seem to bo able to survive the heat of/the summer. "The Boomorang" continues to fill the Belasco Theatre, and ,the Hopwood comedy, "Fair and Warmer," has lost none of its vogue at the Eltinge Theatre. The two revues,'."Ziegfeld Follies," at the Now Amsterdam Theatre, and "Tho Passing Show of 1916," at tho Winter Garden, aro professed summer shows, and are succeeding accordingly. The other two are both musical pieces. "Very Good Eddie" continues to fill tho Casino, and "Step This Way" has moved to the Astor Theatre. Whintling in a Theatre. "Do wo all-know the reason why it is supposed to .be- unlucky to whistle in n. theatre?" writes an English journalist. "I confess that until I had a. Iqtter the other day from' Mr. Fred'eifiok Corder my mind was blank as to tho origin of tho suporstition. Mr. Carder tells nie, apropos of the eternal neglect to-day of Lock's music to .'Macbeth,' that up to about IS7O music was ..traditional in the theatrical world, and was always used at revivals of tho tragedy. Now, says Mr. Couder, there are two or three very haunting phrases . in .this music, the opening of the Overture and 'Let's have a dance upon the heath,' for instance. Performances of 'Macbeth' in Phelps's and Ryder's time were fairly frequent, and so stage hands got the habit of whistling these whilo. at their work. 'Then some irritable tragedian tried to stop them, and imposed fines. This spread tho craze, and tho natural reaction, when it came, gavo rise to tho superstition that it was unlucky to whistle these tunes. These, therefore, gradually were forgotten, liko all popular tunes, and no actor now would recognise them if ho 'heard thom. But the superstition that you must never whistle in a theatre remains.' " If it were possible to establish the supposition that it is unlucky to ivhistle anywhere, what a blessed world this would he. Notes. In the Sydney revival of "The Geislui" by the Royal Coinio Opera Company last week, appeared Clyde Cook, a young Australian who went to London somo years ago, and made a. name and place for himself. Young Cook ,011 his arrival in tho big metropolis, found that u' he wanted to on ho would have to use hie own initiative. So ho sot to work, and devised an act nut of his most successful dances. Given a trial turn, he secured a twelve-months' engagement at a suburban liall, after which came a most attractive offer from London, for a Wost-end revuo. This was the begin-:

ning of a carecr that brought Clyde C'oolc into the front rank in London. Sir Herbert Tree, supported by Miss Edith Wynne Mathicsou and Mr. Lynn Harding, will commence a tour of the United States in Boston on October 16. Frank Craven's farcical comedy, "Too Many Cooks," has been successfully produced iu Sydney by the Williamson Comedy Company, headed by Hale Hamilton. It concerns the humours of home-building, as it is iindorstood in America.