THE THEATRE

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2878, 16 September 1916, Page 6

THE THEATRE

(By "Sylvinj.")

Shakespeare and His Girl-Boys. Ono. of . the happiest thoughts that illummatingtiie genius of Shakespeare iu his comedy moods, and one that he made lull use of, was tho gentle art or "counterfeiting," not, however; as wo modorn English understand the word in its most general .application. Tho reference is to tnose occasions where ho mado his most charming feminine characters tako on the manner and garb of tho opposito sex. This served the purposes <jl the skilful playwright in two ways. It was of the greatest service in the construction of the plots of some of liiß plays, and served at the same time to display to better advantage those physical charms which the oxponents may possess. The prettiest example of this device, and perhaps tho host known, is in "As You Liko It," whero for their, better protection as she wanders in the forest of Arden, Rosalind couiterfeits tho youth Ganymede, and that guise esccrtains how tremendously she'is loved by Orlando. This disguise sho sustains, in the faco of everyone (except tho audience), until Oliver recites Orlando's encounter: with the' lioness, and shows her "tho bloody napkin" which had beoiiMised to staunch her true lover's wound. Abothor jiotablo example is Portia, whero onco .more no attempt is made to rleceivo tho audience, but tho deception is accepted as perfect by everyone coiifcerned in. the trial scene. Exactly how they conduct their "strict" courts in Venice of the middle ages, I havo no immediate knowledge, but I am pretty well convinced that tho Duke of Venice, being an august, wise, and orudite person, would never dream of allowing a young cub of an advocate whom he did not know, to not only venture to expound tho law, but also to deliver judgment on tho Jew. Yet for the sake of a passing prettiitess, which has evex infected the world" with its charm, Portia, without any disguise, other than red, feminine in length and fulness, is permitted to masquerade under her. lover's nose as this same young Balthazar, and not only indicate tho course of,law to be taken to defeat the blood-thirstiness of Shyloek, but actually 1 to pronounco scuteaco. The whole scene is an elaborate'joke, most adroitly conceived, and should not bo taken as .seriously as it usually is— it is a scono saved from banality by the skill of the playwright in construction, and' tho great beauty and sound philosophy that glorify the text. Why tho Jew missed'tho chance of prosecuting. Portia for imposing on the court and tho publio as a male is not rucorded.. , Tho third example occurs iu "Twelfth Night," whero Viola, at a loss in a strange land, "counterfeits" as Cosario, a youth, and as such enters tho employ the Duke Orsino, and as_.his servant is sent to plead his love suit with Olivia, who falls in love with tlio messenger. This charming interlude in "Twelfth Night" is to be played at tho Grand Opera House to-night by the' Allah Willtio Company. Perhaps tlio most notable performance of this delightful romantic farce was given by I the Mtisgrovo Shakespearian Company 1 years ago, when tho late Mr. W. tl. I Denny,played Malvolio, Miss Dora Rig- | Hold ivas Viola, and Miss Maud Milton I a most notable Maria. The comedy was I also played by the Janet Waldorf Company, with Miss Waldorf as Viola, Mr. Vivian Jidwards as Orsino, Mr. Fred : Patey as Sir Toby, Mr. N. Macgregor as Malvolio, and Mr. Lawrenco Hanray as Sir Andrew; Aguccheek. With-riot-, ous fun judiciously intermingled with lo.vers' - sighs,, "Twelfth; Night" is aln'ays a popular bill..' Messrs. Edwards and Patey aro members of tho Allan Wilkio..Company.,.. .. "All Dressed Up, and No Place to, CO." - ■ Raymond Hitchcock, the popular American comedian, lias made an unmistakably favourable impression in London in "Mr." Manhattan." -For 12 years, past ho had been contemplating London, v but something had always Cropped up to prevent liim going. 'Now lio is' there and has conquered. A recent article on the American actor, said:— From America, tho Confidential Com-, cdian has brought a dirge-liko ditty, which is doubtless all over tho place ero now, while its title—"All Dressed Up—and No Place to Go!"—will inevitably becomo a catch-phrase. With melancholy intensity Mr. Hitchcock intones this really classic ballad, singing well off the noto most of the while. To his great joy ho has discovered that the verse which "wont" best in Noo York is tho verso that als ogoes best in this country.- > Hero it is—minus tlio wistful charm of .the inimitable "Hitch": . When you're dressed up, and no place , to go, t Life seems dreary, weary, and slow. My heart ha 3 ached and bled i'or all tho tears I've shed, i , When I'd no place to go— ■Unless I went homo to bed! ' We're all at sea about the German war: How did it start? ono asks, and'what is it for? • ' I'll tell you how, by Heck, and'' you'll know it's' so— Tlio, Kaiser, was all. dressed up—and no place to go! New Australian Plays. Lan Maclaren and Miss Mattio M'Lellan havo been engaged for tho leading roles of Bob Brothers and Ruth M'Laughliii, in "AViiile tho Billy ; Boils," which will bo presented by E. J. Carroll and Beaumont Smith at tho Theatre Royal, Sydney, on September 30. Miss M'Lellan is on her way from Now Zealand, whero she has' boen holidaying since the conclusion of the tour of "A Scrape o' the Pen," in which production sho was tho tall, graceful heroine.' The casting of the play is slow owing to the care that has,' to bo exercised in exactly suiting people to the Lawson types. -All Lawson readers have their own conceptions of his characters, and a producer must not take many liberties. There aro many novel effects iu "While tho Billy Boils." Mr. J. vS"'. Mann, tho artist, is now'engaged oil tho scenery. During an early dress rehearsal of Steele ltudd's now play, "Duncan M'Oluro and the I'oov Parson," the members of tho Bort Bailey Co. had an exciting five; minutes. In tho fourth act a scene —which was eventually cut oiit becauso of its impracticabilityhad been written' round tho Parson's piano, which had been bought by Duncan M'pluro from JaSob Wattleton. In this a rat terrier was to figure. Tivo terriers which had been brought in by their respective owners for a .prospective engagement wero reposing , quietly in their respective corners when tho calf (for the branding sceno) broke through Lis pen and charged -down amongst tho company, bellowing for its mother. It would bo against dog nature to keep out of what looked liko a "scrap," so they both joined in tho scrimmage. Fred Macdonald showed a fow inches of bare leg below his kilts, and tho. big Irish terrier, Mike by name, went for them. When the company, the dogs, and, tho calf wero sorted out, the calf was returned fo its mothor and Mike lost an engagement Flltnlets. I, for one, was somewhat disappointed with "Tlio No'or-do-Well," produced at the King's last week. After a promising opening, in which tho boisterous son of a railway magnate gets packcd away to Panama whilst drugged, and an irato father has cut him off, one expected to see him mako good in lino stylo through his own ro-

sources, but though ho does so, it is through tho efforts of a married woman who loves him, and half tho picture is saturated with that sensuous appeal, that is so appallingly common in American pictures at tho present time.

Among the big pictures showing in Now York when tho last mail left wore "Civilisation," a Thomas I'nco spectacle; "Under Two Flags," with Theda Bara as Cigaretto; "Common Ground," starring tho charming Marie Doro; Mary Pickford in "Hulda from Holland" ; and Bessie Barriscale in "Homo."

"The Divinity of Motherhood," to bo seen in Wellington next week, deals with a rather dolicato subject in an artistic manner. It will be curious to noto how the Press and publio tako it, not to mention the censor It is said that one may meet just as many prominent actors in the main street of Lob Angeles as in mid-eeajson in Broadway, New York —tho cloar air of the desert city has mado the place the "Poverty Point" of Amerioa. Saw old Frank M. Clark, formerly of Clark's All Star Minstrels, which toured New Zealand in the dim ages, and also of the Silk Stockings Variety Company, which played for months at the old Skating Rink in Darlinghurst, Sydney, in the 'eighties, playing an old man part in "Tho No er-do-Well" hero this woek. Frank must he about seventy years of age, but seems as spry .is ever, and no fault could be .found with his acting.

John Fuller, jun., says that the picture business in Australia is not nearly what it used to bp. Not nearly so much money is taken now as formerly, and tho competition that is raging in the big centree Is having a strangling effect. ■

Charlie Chaplin is now advertised as tho highest-salaried artist in picture or on tho stage in, the world. Tlie' money made by Caruso, or Melba, or Paderewski in a yoar is mere pinmoney to what Charlie commands. What a roflectibn ■ on tho intelligence of mankind 1