THE THEATRE

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 3036, 24 March 1917, Page 13

THE THEATRE

IBr Sylvius.}

"The Land of Promiso." Somerset Maugham, author of "The Land of Promise," was 34 when he jumped into lame as a dramatist with "Lady Frederick." A year before lie was ono of "the great unproduced." Iu a few months he had four plays running concurrently at the leading London theatres, and managers besieging him for anything he might write. Eight years later ho joined the British fighting forces in the R.M.A. Mr. Maugham is a doctor by profession. He was one of the originators of the scheme whereby the wives of British soldiers interned in • Switzerland might visit their husbands. ■ A big fund was started, and this is drawn send tho wives to Switzerland. "The Land of Promiso" is said to be a most excellent play, and if Somerset Maugham had written; no more than this and "Lady Frederick" Australian audiences, at any rate, would have been glad to remember him amongst present-day dramatists, and forget '99 per cent, of the others. The craftsmanship is solid, the characterisation is fine, and tho dialogue of the best. There is a sparkle about the comedy of "The Land of Promise" that even first-night earnestness, . nervousness, and other mischances failed to suppress. More than that, there is a wealth of emotion that calls for nothing less than the best acting. Old Favourites.

With "Charley's Aunt," "The Private Secretary," "Peter Pan," ' Peg o' My Heart," and _ "Romance all drawing big houses in London at the same time, there can be no complaint of lack of fidelity to old favourites on the part of London theatre-goers. "Peter Pan" has just completed ( looo performances in London, "Peg o -My Heart," 950, and "Romance 523. None of these three has yet touched the "Charley's Aunt" record, bnt this, apparently, is merely a matter of time. Mr. A. E. Matthews has appeared nearly 880 times as Jerry in "Peg o My Heart," and Mr. George Sbelton has been in every London performance of "Peter Pan." The following figures indicate the length of continuous runs in London of some past successes—not including revivals:— "Charley's Aunt, 1466; "Our Boys," 1382; "The P™^ e Secretary," more than 1000; The Chinese Honeymoon," more than. 1000; "Dorothy," 951; "San Toy," more than 800; "The Merry Widow," 779; La Poupee," 778; "The Geisha," 760; Country Girl," more than 700; "Patience,",. 700; . "Pinafore, <U0; "Sweet Lavender," 683; "The Toreador,"'67s; "The' Mikado " 672p"Our Flat," 645; "Fanny's First-. Play,: 628; "Bunty Pulls' the Strings," 618; "Milestones," 609: "A Runaway Girl, 598; "The Gondoliers," 554;."Niobe, 550; "Tho Shop Girl," 546 ;'. "The Great Adventure," more than 500; Vcronique,"- more than 500, These are merelv Loudon runs, of course; Tho numbers are not to be compared with thoso achieved outside the Metropolis by plays liko "East Lynne," "A Royal Divorce," "The Lights of London, "The Silver King," and others which, aro still being played. .

Across the Border. - .^ 'Two very popular, very level-headed",-and- pleasant people connected with the .theatrical profession have disappeared 'from the "front" of life during the past week. One was Fred. Duval, best remembered for his long connection as advance agent and manager to the Pollard Opera Company.; His amiable, equable disposition, and well-balanced: mmd, his freedom from anything that savoured of theatrical "swank," and his kindly, generous nature made him awellTloved man. ;.• ■ ...The.second death .recorded: was. that of Percy Dix, the perpetually smiling Percy, who gave Wellington its first tastb of permanent vaudeville down in the now defunct Theatre Royal,, and who introduced some remarkably clever artists into New Zealand. There was a time when Mr. Dix looked as though ho would corner the vaudeville business for good and all, but competition from-tho Fullers meant heavy expenditure (in which the public, gained), and the long fight ended with the exit to Australia of the benign Percy. In later years ho had conducted a vaudeville • liouso ,in Newcastle, _ N.S.W., working in a good deal with John Fuller and Sous in respect to talent.

Old Favourite Returns. Among the old favourites in the new company at the Opera House is .Mr. Charles Brown, one of the few of the good stock actors for so many years with Bland Holt,. Others with Holt had moro meteoric careers ■ and reached higher salaries, but: in Australia '"-Mr." Brown has .outlived them all oil .the stage,'thanks to a shrewd, headland a close attention to the best of advice: "Man,' know thyself!'.' ■' Since' ho was' here' last (with' ."The Argyle.; Case"), Mr. Brown has "been some eighteenmonths in South Africa with the Williamson firm playing in "The Whip," "Potash and Perlmutter," etc. He confesses to a great love of the cities of the big country, particularly Pretoria, Cape Town, and. Durban, which are delightful residential towns. The practice there was to produce one piece and.then tour the whole country with it; Johannesburg was the only, city whore.a run was possible, and there with a success you might .make eight weeks of it, Cape Town only a fortnight or so. But the touring ground was so vast. It was 1640 miles from Cape Town to J'burg; then you could go right away up to Salisbury, and down to Durban. Mr. Brown states that the South African troops had a had.time iu German East Africa, not so much on account 'of the fighting, but owing to the deadly nature of the climate.: iThe territory, reeked with malaria and blackwater, and it was one of the most pitiable sights in the world to see tho men returning to their own towns, -utterly powerless physically, trembling with ague, and so- flaccid .that they have to bo iiekt up by others, And ho was given to understand that they never recovered thoroughly from the effects of blackwater. Life was very delightful in. the cities, and the purely British Rhodesia- was peopled by the very best type' of Englishmen; Notes. i It is understood-that the Florenuo Rockwell Company will appear in the successful English play "London Prfde," on its return to Australia from New Zealand. It', is dosoribed as a; clever war-time comedy, of an East End soldier and an. ■ East. End girl. Gerald du.Maimer attd Mabel Russell played the leads in iJohdon.

An_item of interest nt the Melbourne Tivoli Theatre a fow ciyenings ago was the appearance of "Anzao," the 'soldog," who had been through the Gallipoli campaign as \the mascot of. an Australian regiment. Anzao has the appearance of a-humfofe little mongrel of the rough-haired Mack and tan variety, with a tail too lotos for "the fanoy," but he is clever. to the commands of Driver H. N. Walker, he drills, dances, d.bes_ a boxing turn, and perfornies amusingly in other ways. The public wa'.rmly applauded the animal and his niaster. The Wilkie players have '. revived Brinsley Sheridan's play, "The Kivals," In Melbourne. Ada Reeve, the finest English dienne in vaudeville in the /world, is to visit Australia again next month, opening at the Melbourne Tivoli at Easter, ■ . .•,