The Globe. SATURDAY, AUGUST 21, 1875.

Globe, Volume IV, Issue 372, 21 August 1875, Page 2

The Globe. SATURDAY, AUGUST 21, 1875.

The announcement that Mr and Mrs Hoskins will commence a season at the Chrißlchurch Theatre on the 28th of this mouth will be received with satisfaction by most of the community. The company under the leadership of the veteran actor is a strong one, and we are certain that the pieces to bo performed will he as well put upon the stage as the limited resources of the Christchurch Theatre will admit. But, while gladly welcoming a decently strong theatrical company to the Christchurch boards, we must confess a feeling of wonder at the apathy shown by the inhabitants of the City with regard to the present building which does duty as a theatre. When the structure was originally erected, it did well enough. It was weather proof, and when new, though inconvenient, was as commodious a building as the inhabitants of the town could expect. But it is many years since it was new, Christchurch has increased in population enormously, and each successive season finds the theatre becoming more and more dingy, and no steps are taken towards the erection of a new home for the drau.a. It is positively a work of suffering to sit out a performance in the theatre in its present state. If the weather is cold and windy, audience and actors are alike sufferers from the draughts which sweep through the house, and if the evening should be close the upper part of the house is so hot as to be oppressive to the spectators. It appears absurd that, while Wellington can boast of a really good commodious theatre, and Dunedin will shortly be able to point to two fine buildings allotted to theatrical purposes, the Christchurch playgoers should still put up with a house in which they are either frozen, or half suffocated, according to the state of the weather. On various occasions, different gentlemen have made attempts to start a company ftr the purpose of building a new theatre, but every one of the proposed schemes has fallen through. We are inclined to think,judging from these failures, that we shall be obliged to wait until the much-wanted house is built by private enterprise. The Princess' Theatre iu Dunedin was no sooner burnt to the ground, than the owner advertised for plans for a new and more commodious building than that which had just perished in the flames, and the people of Dunedin will not have long to wait before the new theatre is completed. But if the Christchurch Theatre were destroyed by fire, we are by no means sure that sufficient energy exists amongst the people of the town to replace the building by one more suited to the requirements of the present day. Handsome buildings are being erected every year in Christchurch by private enterprise, for business purposes, and it appears strange that no capitalist, or capitalists, can be found to invest : money in the erection of a building which is so much required in the town as a theatre. Such an investment surely ought to pay handsomely. The play-going public of this town comprises a large number of people, and whenever the entertainment presented is of a fairly average class, the attendance at the theatre is invariably good. But there are many persons who do not care to attend performances in the present house, though they would do so if they were rendered comfortable during the time they would have to remain there. A new theatre would mean larger audiences, and more frequent visits from good actors, and although we almost despair, yet we j trust to Bee another attempt made to provide the Christchurch theatre-goers with such accommodation as they may fairly expect, considering the great increase iu the population, and wealth of the city since the present building was erected.