THE THEATRE

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2884, 23 September 1916, Page 6

THE THEATRE

(By "Sylvius.") "Dr. Bill" To-night. It is a far cry back to the days of Myra. Kemble and "Dr. Bill," yet it is not difficult to recall the rollicking performance that , excellent company gave of this long-lived farcical comedy, Even at .this distance of time the wildly ludriorous entanglement and the screamingly funny situations can be recalled that were wont, as wore Yoric's jests, to set the house in a ioar. The comedy is to be presented this evening and on Monday and' Tuesday, by the newly-formed Natives Association's Dramatic Club, who Jiavo been 'put through their. facings by Mr. Charles Blake, who has had professional ox-t perience with the piece. Among those 'to take part,' the names of several clevor amateurs appear, and as I have the assuranco of Mr. Blako that the cast was ready for the footlights a week ago, the performance should bo well worth seeing. Excess Profits. A paragraph has been going tho round of tho Press telling how Air. Allen Doone has been mulcted in the sum of £300 excess war profits, on his recent tour of the Dominion. How true the statement is I cannot say, but it has puzzled me to know how tho authorities arrived at' what woro war profits in the case of a theatrical company. A .company may do good, bad, or indifferent business, but to what extent the war influenced that business would take a wiser man than Solomon to tell. It may be that Mr. Doono's profits this year wore compared with what he made on his last tour prior to the war, and the' difference has been taxed, but it can hardly bo said that the same are excess war profits, in the sense intended by the Act as the profits of a second-rate company cannot bo said to have arisen out of war conditions, as would bo so in the casc'of an army contractor, nor can one conceivo of Mr. Doone having done such lucrative business as to .warrant an official descent on his treasury. If that is the case, then it is a case of lucky Mr. Doone, for other and better companies have not found Now Zealand such a happy hunting ground during tho present year. A Stock Company Mooted.. ~ It is to be sinoeroly hoped that such a souud company as that headed by Mr. Allan Wi|kie and his talented not be allowed to fade out of existence as an organisation. During the current, season the creditable performances given have, in Australia, as well as New Zealand, given the public a taste for the highest form of legitimate drama, and there aro no play-lovers who will not welcome a continuance of such palatable and intellectual fare. Mr. Wilkie's intentions are" interesting. Ho has every hope that the present company will continue -in existence "for some time to come. Ho is keen , on Shakespeare, and on the company's return to Melbourne in Cup week lie is to produce "Tho Taming of the Shrew," played hero a few years ago, . by tho Oscar Asche Company. But he was not wedded to the plays of Shakespeare, and hoped that in .the future the company would, be seen in the charmiug plays of Sheridan, Knowles, Goldsmith, and other writers of good comedies which havs been allowed to moulder on the shelves too long. Compared with tho average plays that' are presented nowadays, such plays as ''The School for .Scandal," "The Critic": "She .Stoops to Conquer" aro classics; "classics:' "that .are .practically unknenyh to the .- younger generation of playgoers,' 1 whoso ideas .on plays aro namoulded by those they see. -Mr. Wilkio's idea of founding a stock company to perform good' plays is highly commendable, and I hope that Jio will obtain that support from tho publio'thai is the only practical en r ' coiirager of snob fine ideals. "La Traviata" in Sydney. "It has been curious to note the change in 'View of the Sydney public regarding "La Traviata," the second production under the Fuller management of tka Gonsalez Italian Opera Company. For one night only "La Traviata" threatened to be the least Buccossful of the operas, tho opening house being full, but the,management not in the happy position of turning people from tho doors, as in thoscase of other operas.-.. The pathetic tone of the opera was certainly the reason, hut the glorious singing of Siguorina Gon : salez, as the frail Violetta (Camille), lias altered.the management's opinion of "La Travkta" as a draw, and.it is to be revived again.. Certainly, tho acting of Dagradi, as tho handsoino lover,-,and Siguorina Gonsalez's Violetta, 'provide tho most affecting of moments, but they are gloriously affecting. Tho Gonsaloz Company plays tho opera/in pioturesque costuming, which adds tremendously to the general effeot. Filmlets. Mary Pickford, still the reigning Queen of tho Movies, despite tho influx of stars from the legitimate stage, is a Britisher by birth.' She was born in. Toronto 23 years ago, and appeared there on the stage as a mere child of five, with tho Toronto Stock Company, which she ultimately left to join Ohauncey Olcott's, touring company. There she attracted the attention of David Belasco, who engaged her for "The Warrens of Virginia," and afterwards starred her in "The Good Little Devil." Her captivating portrayal of the blind girl in this play attracted the attention of the American Biograph Company, who engaged her for a term, after which she joined, up with the Famous Players. This should put an end to the tales of those people who quote Mary as a case where a training on the legitimate stage is out essential to good work before the camera. Miss Pickford's appearances -before the automatic- "eye'.' are now to be restricted to six a year, each one to bo written especially for her, and released independent of any programme. This move makes Mary a veritablo full moon in the firmament. Another allegedly great picture recently developed in America is entitled "The Fall, of a Nation," by Thomas Dixon, obviously based on the big ideas that found such admirable expression in "The Birth of a Nation," but nothing to compare with that masterpiece'in the finer points of dramatic distinction. Curious to mo why the public djd not interest themselves in "The Birth of a Nation," in viow of tho pictorial piffle they so often rush. How can, it bo.possible for any management, to turn out any number of star pictures? A really star scenario is not invented any more frequently than a good play is writton, and heaven knows that is seldom enough, so to bolster up tho mediocre press agents have to sleep with a dictionary of adjectives, and fire a fow rounds of them every- <|ay at an entirely unprotected public. But "Tho Birth of a Nation" was great from all points of view—yet it failed to pull tho crowd in Wellington., One Australian manager states that the "cloven, hoof" of German intriguo is making itself manifest in the. picture world. Some German-run fil'.n | manufacturers are'turning oiit moving pictures the narrativo of which shows the Japanese in an unfavourable light. Tlieso are being sold to managers throughout the British Empire,' the effect being to insidiously undermine the esteem in'which we.hold our Japanese, ally.'" Managers should be careful—par-j

ticularly now tho censorship is in .operation. Mary Pickford, tho pretty little witch of tho movies, is to be seen next week as CliO' Clio San, in a picture version of "Madam-Butterfly," at Macmahon's Theatre. Whether it is a version of Belasco and Long's drama or Puccini's opera is not made quite clear, but Miss Pickford should be charming in the role of the little Jap lady who loved a bold bad sailor man, and kari-kari-cd when she found ho had subsequently married another lady of his own race.