OUR LONDON FLANEUR. Social, Theatrical, and Literary Gossip.

Te Aroha News, Volume I, Issue 39, 1 March 1884, Page 5

OUR LONDON FLANEUR. Social, Theatrical, and Literary Gossip.

London, December. This is Cattle Show week, and agricultural England has, for the time being, abandoned its usual pursuits and invaded London. Thoy are a hearty, kindly, hospitable race, these farmers. . All day they stroll up and down the aisles of the vast hall at Islington, poking fat beasts in the ribs, plunging their hands into the fleeces of the prize sheep, inspecting new machinery, and stowing away vast potations of malt liquor. The pigs, somehow, seem to carry special attractions with them. On Wednesday afternoon, when I betook myself northwards, this part of the Show was— despite odours of a painfully pronounced character— by far the most crowded. Women (both young and old) evidently took the for>dest "interest in the porkers' condition. One immensely fat female in deep mourning blocked up the gangway for fully five minutes whilst she disennted on the manifold charms of the prize boar. 1 tried in vain to overhear what she was saying, but could only catch — "Lor 1 , Bill, 'ow your poi-o dear feyther would have enj'yed seeing that there pig." In the evening during Cattle Show week country folks nil the theatres to overflowing, and it is delightful to listen to their jolly laughter and hearty applause. The Adelphi is the favourite rendezvous, for on the stage melodrama reigns supreme, and Farmer Hodge likes his play to be like his grog — hot and strong. I Talking of plays reminds me that I must put off telling you what little social gossip is rife at present till my next, for the budget of theatrical intelligence this mail happens to be exceptionally full and interesting. The expectations raised with reference to the piece at the Princesses' have been more than realised. Whether regarded as a romantic drama of tragic power and intensity, or as an accurate picture of life in Eastern Europe a few hundred years after the birth of Christ, " Claudian" is a remarkable play,and ought to livelonginthcmemory of all who see it in London. To give you a wholly accurate impression of its many beauties will, I fear, be impossible, but the following outline of the story nuiy convey some idea of them :—: — The rising of the curtain displays, to the intense delight of the astonished audience, a scene that Alma Tademn himself might have painted. "It is" (to quote the de&cription of Mr Clement Scott) "a city of white marble overlooking a &ea of wavelefts blue." We are in the market place of Byzantium in the year of our Lord 362, a time when paganism was still struggling with Christianity, and when the new Home had not delivered up the last remnant of its luxury and Epicureanism. The stage is a mass of life and colour. Slaves ot every variety of tint and beauty lie at the back awaiting the auction, which will by-and-by scatter them abroad. At the side are a dozen or so of gladiators discussing feats of the arena, at another a group of students and philosophers conversing earnestly. Busy citizens, haughty patrician ladies, followed by eunuchs and slaves, dark-skinned water- carriers, and cheery vendors ol fruit pass and repass. Everything betokens tho happy moment of \\ sensuous and extravagant age. And now the action of the piece commences. Into the midst of a knot of chattering art students bursts Theorus, a young sculptor, with the announcement that he is the happiest man in the world. Asked why, Theorus explains that his adored wife Serena has till now been the slave of a patrician noble. This worthy is dead ; so Serena, with the rest of his property, will presently be put up to auction in the mar-ket-place, and Theorus, lucky fellow, has saved the sum necessary to lansom her and make her a free woman and his own for ever. The bystanders cordially congratulate the young husband, and the fairhaired Serena is clinging lovingly to him, when murmurs from the ci'owd proclaim the advent of some notability. In a moment the sunshine of life disappears for Theorus, and an agonising fear takes its place. TKe new corner is Claudian Andiates, the handsomest, strongest, wealthiest, and most dissolute noble in all Byzantium. Though blessed with youth, uncommon personal beauty, a majestic presence, and muscles of iron, Claudian is a slavo to all the worst of conceivable passions. Bred up in luxury, and accustomed to have his lightest whim humoured, the man would be brave indeed who dared to thwart him. No woman is safe from Claudian. When Theorus hears he is coming, the unlucky youth hides Serena behind all the biggest stones, and prays that she may not be seen. Accompanied by a brilliant train of servants and sycophants, and preceded by soldiery, who lash a lane through tho cringing crowd with whips, Claudian Andiates, a noble figure indeed, makes his appearance on the scene. At first Serena stands unnoticed, but just as Claudian seems to be leaving, and the danger is over, an old wretch, Volpas by name, drags the girl to light and commences to bid for her. For an instant Claudian's attention is attracted, and the mischief done. Despite the agonised appeals of Theorus, and the prayers of Serena, Claudian buys the girl. "A brace let will soon dry her pretty tears," he says, " and as for the husband, let him be given this diamond ring." Theorus throws the diamond into the river and springs upon his oppressor, but one blow from Claudian's mighty fist lays him prone on the ground. " To my palace with her !" says tho great man, and retires. The populace, however, are furious at the treatment of their fellow citizen, and, roused by his appeals for assistance, fall upon the soldiery. A wonderfully well managed 1 street brawl follows, in the midst of which Serena makes her escape. The scene melts away, and we are in the rocky sanctuary of Holy Clement, a monk who lives in a mountain fastness near Byzantium. Hither comes the luckless Serena to claim hiding and protection. Claudian, however, follows and discovers her ; moreover, undeterred by the monk's solemn wai'ning, he penetrates holy ground and tries to seize his prey. Holy Clement, intervening, is ruthlessly slain, but before he dies he gathers up his strength and launches upon the hea 1 of the savage adulterer an awful curse. Claudian has taken Serena in his .arms, and, covering her senseless face with kissee, remarks rapturously, " With lips like these to lciss I could be young for ever." Clement, catching, up the last words cries with solemn wrath — " Be young for ever through the centuries, see generations born, and age, and die, and all who flattered, served, or loved thee dust ; but thou live on. Thy coui'se, like baneful star across the sky, shall blight and wither all upon thy track. To love thee, or to be beloved by thee, alike shall poison, maim, and kill. The innocent sunshine shall die out before thee, and the black shadow of misfortune follow. Thy soul shall hunger, thirst, and famish to do good, and try in vain to do it. The happiness as pure as crystal well, touched by thy lips, shall become muddy at its source,. Thy pity shall envenom what 'twould soothe, be poison to the wound, till thou couldst pray for the hard heart again thou hast today. Thy charity, which might have comforted one-half the kingdom's poor, breed pestilence and ruin— until the vaulted rocks

shall split, a gulf be struck 'twixt thee and me, then thou shalt choose either to die or live accurst till doom. From dying lips this curse from heaven has fallen, " The curse is no sooner uttered than a Bubtle change comes over Claudian. He no longer desires to make Serena his mistress. On the contrary, he will restore her to Theorus, and endeavour to pacify the offended gods by making the young couple happy. He will, indeed, do anything to get rid of the strange chill at his heart. Turning to Serena, who still lies half-fainting close by, Claudian tells her of his changed intentions. But the curse already works, and his first attempt at well-doing brings sorrow to the persons he wishes to kelp, for Serena, worn out, dies at the unhappy man's feet. With a bitter cry of anguish Claudian falls ' agonisadly before the dead monk's crucifix, , and the curtain falls. "Be Young for Centuries." A hundred years have passed, and we are now at a l vineyard feast in Carydos, a city of Bittynia. ] Thither, still young, wealthy, and powerful, comes Claudian, carrying, alas ! the awful curse with him. To his friends he brings ruin, to his acquaintances misfortune ; to any country he resides in, war and famine. Things have arrived at such a pass that he dare not try to do good. Worn out by the solicitations of a poor woman with a starving child, Claudian gives her a guinea. Ten minutes later the little one dies. Instances of this kind multiply, and the natives begin to suspect the wealthy stranger of possessing an "evil eye." Amongst othei-s Claudian accidentally meets Almida, a lovely young girl, just betrothed to her first and only love — Agazil, a blacksmith. One glance suffices to rivet Almida's heart eternally to Claudian. The old love is forgotten — she knows not why. It may be she has been bewitched (asAgazil suggests), but Claudian alone is her love, her life, her master. In vain Claudian warns the girl that he is the most miserable, the most unfortunate of mankind. Before a throng of friends Almida openly avows her attachment, but as Claudian's hand touches her's, and they are about to embrace, the hapless girl totters and falls. She has been struck blind. The greater part of the third act is taken up with some exciting scenes, in which a lecherous old tetrarch persecutes the blind Almida, who is seeking for the mysterious Claudian. Of course, at the right moment the latter rescues her, but even then he hesitates to link the maiden's lot with his. Now comes the finest scene in the play. We are at Claudian's palace— a magnificent pile, supported by massive marble pillars. Everything is on a leviathan seale — solid, vast, and splendid. The female slaves gossip in the great hall, and almdes dance there. At last, how ever, Claudian comes, and the retainers disappear. Almida is with him, and still prays he will marry her. The tussle between love and conscience proves severe. Again and again Claudian hesitates, but at length love wins. The unhappy man is about to step forward and embrace his betrothed, when an earthquake reduces the city to chaos. No such scene as this has ever been imagined before, much less successfully carried out. The way in which the temples and palaces were crushed to atoms, the mighty pillars foil in, and the walls tumbled to pieces, was appalling. Every human being seemed to be dead save Claudian, who, standing unhurt in the lurid grandeur of this awful scene, murmurs out the miserable words, "But 1 shall live on." The last act takes place amidst the ruins of Carydos. Claudian, believing Almida to be dead, and mindful that according to Clement's prophecy "the vaulted rocks have split," calls upon the monk to redeem his promise and give*him death. The ghost of the holy man appears, and, believing in Claudian's purification by suffering, grants his prayer. He must, however, decide whether to live on for ever accur&ed or to die blessed before the moon sets. The arrival of Agazil and Almida, who have been miraculously saved from the eartaquake, explains this alternative, and once more Claudian's heart is torn with mortal love. Fortunately, he remembers the disastrous consequences of such a passion, not only to himself, but to the innocent Almida and her lover. Sacrifice and atonement alone remain for him. With a great cry, the suffering man invokes death, and is irstantly struck down by lightning. At the same moment the blind girl recovers her sight, and the spell which Claudian's affection cast over her heart being removed, sherushesintoAgazil's arms. It will bo easily seen from the foregoing that " Claudian " is practically a one-port play, all the other characters merely revolving round the central figure. Mr Wilson Barrett undertakes the character at the Princesses', and achieves therein the crowning triumph of his long and painstaking career. I dcubt very much whether even Irving could play "Claudian" as well. Mr Barrett looks an arrogant Roman noble to the life. The classic costume (utterly impossible to nine actois out of ten) sits most gracefully on his well-knit figure, and every movement is easy and dignified. In other respects " Claudian " might have been much better cast, for Miss Eastlake (always the same in every part she plays) is not strong enough for Almida, and Mr Willard seems wholly out of his element as the monk, Clement. The new Alhambra was opened to the public on Monday, December 3rd, just twelve months from the time the old house disappeared in ashes. I can't say I think the architect is to be congratulated on his work. A year ago the Alhambra w r as unique amongst European play - houses. Now r , though commodious and perhaps unburnable, it is a gaudy horror decorated in vermilion and prussian blue like a Dooth at a country fair. Both auditorium and stage have been considerably enlarged, but even this change is a drawback rather than an advantage. In old days the ballet comfortably filled the scene, now it looks decidedly skimpy. The auditorium, too, has aprisonlike appearance, and gives one the shivers. The doors to the private boxes are of iron, and theirmteriors resemble nothing so much as comfortable family vaults. In summer time the Alhambra, with its stone staircases, metal balconies and asvestas paint will, no doubt, be pleasantly cool, but at present, with the thermometer at freezing point, and snow on the ground, I prefer a less "generally improved" edifice. The opening piece, "The Golden Ring," a fairy opera comique, the work of Sims and Clay (of " Merry Duchess " fame), was received very favourably by the critics, and certainly contains some pretty ballads. Personally, however, I thought both spectacle and music much below the old Alhambra standard. The ballet, as I have said, seemed lost on the enlarged stage, and the procession, which closed the last act, was a failure. The only encores received were for a tenor ballad entitled " The Last Good - bye," and a buffo song, " I Shall Leave My Good Lady at Home," excellently sung by Mr J. G. Taylor, who I believe is known in the colonieSi The late lamented Mr Euclid might be able to unravel the plot of the "Golden Ring.'g I couldn't. There were good fairies and bad fairies, noble princes and naughty ones, a rakish old king, and a jealous old queen. What they and a great many more strange people were doing I'm sure I can't say, but whenever anybody got into trouble, the "golden ring" (which was, of course, a magic one, and passed from hand to hand) got nim or her out again.

I A far saner and an infinitely more * amusing evening's entertainment is to be > seen just now at the Strand Theatre, where > young Compton, son of the famous deceased ) comedian of that name, and Miss Virginia ( Bat em an are drawing crowded houses in i "Wild Oats." Compton has proved a true "chip of the old block." His "Jack i Rover "is an admirable performance ; and : if, as I hear, he and his wife (Virginia Bateman) intend visiting the antipodes professionally next winter, you have a real treat before you. It is not often I read books of travel, but last week I got through two and enjoyed them both thoroughly. One was Mr Gilmour's " Among the Mongols," and the other a cheap edition of the " Voyage of the Vega." The former seemed to me specially entertaining, and being by a missionary, may be put into anybody's hands without fear. Talking of cheap editions, be sure (if you haven't already seen it) to procure a copy of the new issue of Lady Blomfield's "Reminiscences of Court and Diplomatic Life. " It was the great book of last London season, and ran through six editions in the expensive form. Another cheap re-issue that has had a prodigious sale is the " Recollections of a Literary Life," by Mary Russell Mitford, nor must I omit to mention "Memories of Old Friends from the Journals of Caroline Fox, of Pevyerrick," which is now obtainable for 6s. Mrs Lynn Linton's new novel, "lone," is a love story of profound intensity and tragic power, but few will lay it down without a feeling of satisfaction that they have got to the end. The heroine, lone, bears a strong family likeness to far abler creations of this author, to wit, "Lizzie Lorton and Learn Dundas." She is a most disagreeable i female, either sensuously affectionate or i etormily jealous, and when, after leading i her husband a rare life, she stabs him in a s fit of passion, one feels that next to com- ' mitting suicide, she has done him the : greatest kindness within her power " Annan Water," Robert Buchanans latest effort, is written on the same line as a "Child of Nature," but will not compare with "God and the Man," or "The Shadow of Sword." It is a dull book on the whole. The programmes issued by the leading magazines for 1884 are now out. " Temple Bar " will, as usual, be specially strong in fiction. Mi&s Fothergill (whose "First Violin" and "Kith and Kin" were such popular stories) once again supplies the principal serial, a romance entitled "Peril," and an anonymous writer- has in preparation a novel called " Zero." The "Gentlemen's" will also rely on an anonymous work. It has been christened "Philistia," and is attributed to Mr Laurence Oliphant. " The Lover's Creed," by Mrs Cashel Hoey, will be the piece de resistance of "Belgravia," and Wilkie Collins is writing a sensational story styled "I Say No" for "Time." "Longman's," of course, continues Clark Russell's "Jack's Courtship," which &o far has disappointed every body , and ' ' Harper's " hope to make a hit with Wm. Black's Elizabethan romance, "Judith Shakespeare '' The "English Illustrated Magazine " retains its reputation as an admirable sixpennorth in so far as the illustrations are concerned, but the letterpress is still a touch too heavy for the general public. The sixpenny "Cornhill," on the contrary, improves steadily. Some of the short stories in the first volume (which is now published at 4s 6d, and contains an admirable selection of miscellaneous reading) are exceptionally clever, and have been most favourably noticed by the " Westminster " and other reviews. Charles Reade will finish a new three- volume novel this month. He has sold it to the Tillotsons of Bolton, who are arranging with a comprehensive syndicate oi newspapers for the publication of the story in weekly portions. Miss Braddon primai ily issues all her novels in this way nowadays. The principal serial in " Cassell's Magazine " for tho coming year is "Within the Clasp," a t ory of the Yorkshire jetfinders, by John Berwick Harwood, and " Good Words '' will rely on Miss Linskill's "Between the Heather and the Northern Sea " and Miss Sarah Tytler's " Beauty and the Beast. " To the January number of the latter magazine Princess Beatrice contributes a paper. P.S. — I leain this morning Gilbert and Sullivan's " Princess " is to be produced at the Savoy on January sth, and that Planquette's "Nell Gwynne " replaces "La Vie " at the Avenue about the same date. A revival of "A Scrap of Paper " is meditated at the St. James's, and either " Peril " or "Diplomacy" will follow "Lords and Commons "at the Hay market. " Camaralzaman " has been selected by Burnand as the subject of his Christinas piece at the Gaiety.