The Globe. WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 1874.

Globe, Volume II, Issue 149, 25 November 1874, Page 2

The Globe. WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 1874.

The advent of the proposed company for building a new Theatre in Christchurch, has, we are glad to notice, taken place under very favorable auspices, the names of the gentlemen taking an interest in the project being a guarantee of the lona fides of their endeavours. This is as it should be; and though somewhat late in the day yet there is still time enough to carry out the good work, and to erect a building of which Christchurch may be proud. His Honor, the Superintendent, justly observed at the recent meeting, that nothing more plainly indicates the character of the people than the way in which its Theatre is conducted, and 'this because it has a very marked effect upon the auditory and through them, by various channels, on the people at large. Given a theatre where efforts are made to refine the taste of the people, by presenting some of the best works of well known dramatists, and you will find that the audiences attending that theatre, though large and perhaps principally composed of those attending the lower part of the house, are quiet, orderly, and well-conducted. But, on the other hand, see the difference where a management panders to the lowest tastes of the people instead of attempting by means of their art —for degraded and besmirched by unworthy professors though it be, it is still an art, and one which has produced the greatest man of all time, a Shakspeare —to elevate them. The audiences, from the very nature of the pieces put before them, become rowdy and demoralised, and the result is that respectable people keep away. It must, however, be distinctly borne in mind that in saving this we do not allude to individuals or localities. The remark" we have made apply equally to every city in the colony. In view of this, therefore, it is necessary that the city should possess a building of such a character as will induce artists of high talent to pay us a visit, and this with the present building cannot be expected. It is true Mr Allen’s opera company has visited us, and done good business, but we venture to say that had a comfortable cleanly theatre been available for them, the attendance would be very largely increased. It is no use shutting one’s eyes to the fact that a large number of persons except under very extraordinary circumstances will not go to our present theatre, eimplv on account of the discomforts to which they have to submit, discomforts which have the effect of robbing the evening’s amusement of a great portion of the pleasure which might otherwise arise from it. The lessees of the present building we notice, now intend to do, under pressure of the new company starting, what they ought, in the public interest—and their own—to have done long ago. We are glad to see this, because there is nothing so beneficial, alike in catering for public amusement as in trade, as a healthy rivalry. A monopoly, such as has been the case for some years with our present theatre, has the effect of checking enterprise, and if a little gentle persuasion in the shape of a new building could have been brought to bear some time ago, Christchurch would not have so long lain under the reproach of possessing the smallest and most inconvenient theatre in New Zealand, alike for audience and performers. It is not as if the people were not supporters of the drama. We feel certain that no city of its size contributes so liberally towards entertainments of all kinds, to some of them considering the quality of amusement offered, astonishingly so. There is, therefore, no excuse for the present state of things, and we rejoice heartily that at last we see the beginning of the end, and that there is a prospect erelong, either by the proposed company or the lessees of the present building, of a new theatre being built. Let the meeting to-morrow be prompt and decided in their actions; if they are unable to get the particular site mentioned, there are plenty more, only let something be done, and we can only recommend intending shareholders to act up to the old Latin provert Bis dat qui cito dat , and the new theatre will be built without a doubt.