About Entertainments.

Patea Mail, 25 August 1882, Page 3

About Entertainments.

Some useful instruction may bo drawn from the entertainment given in behalf of the Fire Brigade. There were good points and some not good. One good point was the variety of pieces. Another.was the large number of persons taking part in a single programme. Variety and strength are good for many reasons ; not the least being the greater number of friends and relatives who become interested in see ing how the performers acquit themselves on the stage. In finally selecting what pieces are to be put in a mixed programme, it is important to omit those pieces which have proved weak in the rehearsals. This requires a rather severe judgment, which may give pain or disappointment to one or two, but is better than the public failure which must follow. A good deal can bo done by judicious suggestions in improving weak pieces at the rehearsals. Dramatic pieces are more difficult to choose than suiigs or recitations. A drama or farce must be well rehearsed before a final judgment can be formed ; and when formed, there may not be sufficient time to change the piece for another. Two farces were given on Tuesday, one of which ought to have been rejected as unsuitable, and the other needed working up to do justice to the plot. The first was a farcical sketch, and it seemed to us so very sketchy that there was nothing, in it to entertain an audience. We wore all expected to be amused by the pranks and frolics of a black-faced errand-boy in a lawyer’s office, who mopped his master’s head with a duster, put his heels on a table to smoke a cigar, and jumped out of the window for no sensible reason. The master did nothing to amuse, and there was no sort of plot, A made-up female came in to consult the lawyer, but took fright at the boy’s black face, and kicked her heels so high that the short dress seemed to disappear. Was not that an improper exhibition 7 This made-up wench’s indecent kicking, and the black boy’s larrikin pranks, were an infliction on the audience. This is what we call a larrikin farce; a piece that consists in silly pranks on the stage. It reminded us of another larrikin farce played here some months ago. There was a bedroom scene, and one or two black-faced parties chased one or two white ones over and under the bed. This romping on a bed was supposed to be funny. Those who took the parts were clever enough to afford genuine amusement, if cast in some piece with a reasonable plot. It was not the actors who spoilt these pieces that we complain of: it was the folly of patting silly farces on the stage. The press is expected to be a judicious censor of public exhibitions. We own it would be ranch pleasanter to give praise all round, but there should be some discrimination in public criticism.

The second farce on Tuesday had a plot that should be worth some pains to work up. The title of “ Rnm’ns from Rome ” is ridiculous, but the piece had been framed with skill by a practised band—so wo think. The sham statues had some difficulty in making up to imitate antique bronze, It was hardly correct to dress in white tights, and have black faces, to represent bronze statues. It would have been better if, after the statues had swallowed too much whiskey, they had not pulled each other about the floor, but kept reeling on their feet. Amateurs will notice that professional actors keep on their feet in shamming drunkenness. Great fun can be made out of a tipsy reeling attitude. The old collector of “ curios ” was played with some promise of better things to come, though his make-up was not a disguise. The other parts were fair. The statues were just short of making the piece a success : as it was, they did cause a deal of laughter. It was pleasing to notice the admirable point and clearness of the secretary’s

speech in thanking the audience. It was quite a good stylo of public address. A new addition to local musical talent was the appearance of Mr F. Gray (not Graves, as printed), a good strong basso, who sang “ Wrecked and Saved ” in a manner to gain an encore. His manner is confident, but there is a strange absence of expression by gesture or attitude. It is not good to stand stock still through a song which ought to express varying emotions. Mr Gray needs very little to make his singing highly successful Local amateurs who have appeared before the public several times should expect to be received more critically than others who sing or act for the first lime in public. This is a wholesome rule. It preserves a standard of merit, by letting performers know that each repeated attempt in public is a fresh challenge of comparison with others of acknowledged excellence. A good many Patea amateurs now bear this test very well, as was shown on Tuesday. Others seem to think that it is enough to appear, and that if they can perform with success to friends in a room, their performances are equally suited for a public stage. This is a mistaken view, for a large mixed audience is much more exacting than a friendly gathering in a room. A critic who writes for the public is expected to keep those considerations in view, and to try in a gentle way to maintain a good local standard.

It is suggested that the Fire Brigade, who are now a strong and active body of athletic young men, should take up the question of providing water reservoirs in different parts of the town. They might make recommendations to the Borough Council; or they might call a public meeting to discuss different proposals for supplying this urgent want of sufficient storage water to cope with fires in the business part of the borough.