THE LIGHTER SIDE OF WAR.

Taranaki Daily News, 9 April 1918, Page 7

THE LIGHTER SIDE OF WAR.

, A THEATRE UNDER EIRE. ■••• HOW THE NEW ZEALANDERS CARRIED ON. (From Malcolm Ross, War Correspondent with the New Zealand Forces in the Field.) A little more than a year ago the New Zealanders decided to have their own theatre for the entertainment of their fighting men at the front. The General, quick to seize upon a good idea, gave the word, and the head of that benevolent democratic, autocracy known as the Q. Department, equally quick to act, waved his magic wand, and lo! the theatre.

The genesis of our theatre dates back to the beginning of December, 1916, when, after our return from the Sovnme, a paragraph appeared in Divisional Routine Orders asking for .performers for a Pierrot Troupe. There was already in existence a small orchestra consisting of members of the '.'hird Field Ambulance that used to play in its spare time at hospitals and rest stations. This was now handed over to the more ambitious organisation that was in process of development under the immediate direeton of a maichinegun officer, who, in the capital of faraway New Zealand, had been a leading "Savage'' and musician. The first idea was to entertain the men of the division during the winter months only, after which the gay Pierrots would go back to trench and dug-out for the summer fighting. But the Pierrots had come to stay.

EARLY TRIALS. The musical "Savage"' machine-gun officer was despatched to London with carte blanche to buy music and costumes. After many days he returned to try the voices that had heroically responded to the call in Routine Orders. These were various. Needless to say no Caruso was discovered. But, eventually, about a dozen men were chosen to don the mantle. Meanwhile, the carpenters of the Maori Battalion had been set to work to build a theatre- The first theatre consisted of a light wooden framework covered with a cheap stuff with the high-sounding name of Malthoid, but which in reality was a sort of tarred paper that you could poke your finger through. The first performance was given on Boxing Day to the children of the village. It was decided to try it on the French children first. Though they did not understand a word of what was said or sung, it was a good augury that they laughed. The real "first night" was on Boxing Day. The costume had not arrived, and the troupe played in khaki. There was one amusing incident. While the performance was in full swing there was a startling imitation of the shriek and explosion of a bursting shell. The pierrots were in a semi-circle on the stage, when, suddenly, came the shriek and the crash, and the lights went out. The /big drum and the trojubone played their parts, and the chairs on the stage were intentionally tipped over as the lights went out. One of the chairs falling against the only back-cloth of the stage, that too fell, and it seemed as if the whole theatre was about to topple down. This was too much for a couple of Maoris, who were sittinu in the front row. They really thought the theatre had been hit by a five-point-nine, so they rose hurriedly and bolted for their Uvea As none followed, they eame back to find the whole audience in fits of laughter. "By crikey!" said one of them, his bewilderment overcome, "that the dam good act.'

SOME STRANGE EXPERIENCES. That winter was one of the most severe ever experienced in Flanders, and the billets were* cold and uncomfortable. The French chateau, is well remembered. Pierrots' first billet was a farm-house managed by a character who was wellknown as "The Angel." She was a very good sort, and looked after the boys well, but our comrades from •Kangaroo Land had been there before us, and "The Angel" hod acquired what was described to me ag "a, very solid Australian vocabulary." This she mixed with her own voluble French, greatly to the amusement of the Pierrots. Fortunately "The Angel" and her two little children were quite ignorant of the meaning of most of the words in the new vocabulary!

Weeks passed and yet the costumes ■bought in London did not arrive. The management was in despair, There were no Jocal tailors who could make them on the spot. Finally, of all places in the world, they were made at a convent. The good nuns there entered into the spirit of the joke. As they could speaklittle English and the Pierrots less French, difficulties had to be smoothed awg,y almost entirely by means of diagrams and tape measurements, with many pourquois on the one side and a mixture of English and "Na-poo" French on the other. Suitably clothed and altogether in the right frame of mind the New Zealand Pierrots now proceeded along the road to success. and~ their fame spread.

UNDER SHELL FIRE. From the old Armentieres sector we shifted farther up the line, and theatre was housed in a, comfortable little hall in a small town. This was a brick building, and the Pierrots had quite a good stage, of which the scenic artist took full advantage. Here the troop was joined by a sapper from the engineers, a young Wellmgtoni&n who had had a good deal of experience on the London and provincial stages. He joined up as producer and stage manager, and from that moment the show went ahead with splendid strides. All the performers began to improve, and the professional touch gave a finish to the entertainments that they had not before possessed. The girl, » ueat-lhnbed young gunner, was quite a draw. On many occasions this town was vigorously shelled by the Gerwans. One day in particular is memorable. Very heavy stuff came crumping and whoofing in, and about y.30 p.m., just as the performance was about to start, two shells landed at the back of the theatre only ten yards away from the stage wall. This, in the language of the front line, rather put the wind up the fellows who were putting on the grease paint, but they finished their making-up, and the performance was duly commenced. I Twenty minutes afterward* there was an awful crash outside. Thirty yards 9IMX feomj.tiw euinttM-ft #&*&

Burst on a house and Mown it to bits. The orchestra, in the middle/of one of their choice, selections, became a little more before, but both performers and audited were evidently determined to However. j»senior officer who wa i th« stage manager anil .old him that it would be wise to stop the performance as, there being so many men in a small space, there would undoubtedly be a heavy casualty list if a shell were to hit the building, The stage manager came before the footlights and explained that it was deemed advisable to get out. Then the audience rose as one man and went quietly away. They stayed not upon the order of their going, and not even the Scotsmen remembered to ask for their money back. Just as the theatre was cleared another shell landed and burst within about five yards of the front door,. There were about a dozen casualties —flesh wounds and broken arms —and there was a good deal of blood about. The ambulance came up and took away the more seriously wounded. The shelling of the town w;ent on for some considerable time after that, but on no occasion did the German gunners get so close to the theatre. IN SYLVAN RETREAT.

The time had now arrived for the New Zealand Division to undergo Its training for the memorable Battle of Messines. The troops were pulled out of the line, and the Pierrots were given a change of scene. They made jaunts in several directions, and gave performances to "Tommy" audiences. In places they drew crowded audiences that were a strange mixture of English, Scottish, Irish, and Overseas troops, though the latter were in a deciderl minority. Openair performances were also given. One such, in the beautiful grounds of The Baroness, who is famed for her hospitality to the British soldiers, entertained the Pierrots right royally. On this occasion the asphalt lawn tennis court formed the stage, and ithe only scenery was the beautiful trees that grow so luxuriantly about the old chateau, and the dim vistas away beyond the canal that still gives water to what remains of the old moat. In the background, at respectful distance, some villagers came from the reaping of their corn to watch the antics of the mummers and listen to their singing. It was a perfect setting. Almost in such a sylvan scene you might ha.ve cast an involuntary glance to see if Rosalind were wandering there beneath the shady elms. GETTING CLOSE UP,

On one occasion the Pierrots went to give a concert on the- slopes of Hill 63, which fronts Messines. Needless to say, it was the reverse slope that was chosen. The performers had their shrapnel helmets and their gas respirators at the ready, for you never quite knew what would happen at that corner. It was a beautiful hot June Sunday afternoon, the swallows were flitting about the wood, and the lark was singing in the blue just as if the world was as merry as ever it had been. But, mixed with the orchestral accompanlmest of the Pierrots, came the deeper bass of two six-bach howitzers that fired from an adjacent gvmpit, and the scream and whoof of the German shells that, from time to .time, went crashing into the locality. However, the Pierrots got safely back that night to their billets at Nieppe.

During the time we were in the Messines sector the Pierrots gave several open-air performances to brigades out of the line. The theatricals got shelled out of one spot- A high-velocity gun blew things up into the trees. One night a lot of gas shells were sent over, and box-respiiators became a. necessity of the moment. After Messines there was a trek to a district far bebind the lines, where the troops were scattered over a considerable area, and the Y.M.C.A. presented the Divisional Theatre with a huge marquee, which, ever since, nas done good service. It Will seat between eight and nine hundred men. From this place the Pierrots travelled round in a motor lorry visiting the various' battalions that were quartered in the adjoining villages and farms. At one of these villages the Pierrots performed to a Canterbury Battalion outside an estamiixet on a stage built of two bain doors resting on eight beer barrels. The audience occupied the village square. The stage exits were through the windows of the bar-room. One of the performers distinguished himself by falling through, the window. History does not record the number of bis exits and his entrances. To another battalion tho Pierrots, who had by this time become veritable barnstormers, played in a scrim-covered shed, to get to which you had to wade through deep mudTheir dressing-room was made from a few biscuit tins and more scrim. It was brilliantly lit by a couple of candles. / The artillery were also visited at their training ground, and an afternoon performance given at the same time as sports competitions were being decided. On occasions the applause for the Mile Handicap and "I'll Sing Thee Songs of Aiuby" synchronised. Or there were times when the cheers for a sprint final broke in upon some more ambitious theme, causing a syncopation not warranted by tho score

I A TOUR TO THE BASE. When the New Zealanders went forward to their attacks on the Cravcnstafel Passehendaele Ridges no place could be found for the theatre, so the Pierrots set their faces coastwards and established themselves for nearly three weeks at the New Zealand Base. They gave, entertainments in various base depots and at hospitals. This tour formed a very pleasant outing, and was in the nature of a rest for the performers. They also played two nights at an army school. Everywhere they had crowded and enthusiastic audiences. PANTOMIME AND SHELL-FIRE. After some further goings and comings we found ourselves once more in what had been the old Ypres salient, and, in a ruined Belgian town ttf-t had been both prosperous and religious before the war, the Pierrots met their marquee again. Another wave of the autocratic democratic hand, and, 10, d pantomime! Winter was already upon us, and discomfort gazed with leaden eves across a devastated land. The great tent was cold and cheerless, and there was no dressing-room. Some English engineers who were camped near by remedied the latter defect. They built a room in which the mummers could dress and make-up in some degree of comfort. The scenic artist got to work, and the famous city of Bagdad began to maten'ali-se. for the Christmas pantomiino," ~K ' M'>e none other than '•jtfiif Baba M „ .... Forty Thieves*' Tl*| !<jajpeisSjj«uii the Enguie«JCS"WfiM\es, Sfl •{,

Ed post-haste ,to London, and. after an absence of three weeks, he returned with several large hampers, not of food, but of costumes, many of which were very generously presented by Mr. Oscar Asche and Miss Lily Drayton, of "C!m Chin Chow" fame. Other costumes were hired from London theatrical costumiers. Wigs from Clarksoivs, and properties, wire included in tht hampers.

During these three, weeks ihe orchestra was busily i-ehearsmg,>the music. Then the O.C. of "The Forty Thieves" and his merry men got to work in real earnest. For ten days now the theatre was closed, down, i\nd the- play was rehearsed morning, noon, and night. It goes Without saying that many. of the costumes, procured in a haphazard way, would not fit. For instance the Fairy Queen of the London pantomimes is probably not more than about fifteen inches round the waist, hut our musical conductor who took part in the Flanders is no light-weight, so that the circumference of this light and, airy robe had to be increased to something like forty inches—an inch for every thief in the play. The two English Rosebuds—a corporal and a driver —required but a little less material. As the' theatre was in the evacuated zone, seamstresses were unprocurable, but two members of the orchestra set to work and did all the sewing for the pantomime. They proved themselves worthy exponents of the needle. They were able even to cope with the waist of the Fairy QueenEventually everyone was fitted out with costumes, the sergeant scenio artist had painted an ideal Bagdad, and the electrician had been busy with lights of red and white and blue, so that we could have Bagdad by sunset, and Bagdad by night, and Bagdad looming up in the distance through "the outer fringe of the forest." „ There was one thing remarkable about this pantomime. There were some fifteen principal parts in it, so that, with the limited supply of artists available, all the principals had to be chorus, and all the chorus principals. And as there were only eight actors available for thieves, these had to walk round eight times to make up the requisite number of Captain Camouflage's brigand band. The opening night saw the theatre packed to the entrances, and hundreds turned away. The actors were* letter perfect, the orchestra was Teally excellent, and the whole pantomimS went with a swing and a go that greatly delighted the crowded house. Night after night officers and men from the New Zealand and from other flocked to Aehi Baba. There was always a queue at the ticket office, where officers paid their one franc and the men their half-franc for admission. A prince of the blood, and generals (both British and American), graced the performances with their presence, but in all the nightly throng there was never a woman's face, unless, at least, looked to the stage,' where Morgiana, the slave of Cogia and Canen, in her beautiful Eastern draperies, really seemed as if she might just have stepped from the greenroom in Drury Lane. Certainly a stranger coming suddenly upon the scene would never have known that she was he. And all the time the play went on to the whistling of military trains, the drone 'of the bombing planes, the resonant reports of the cannon, and, at times, the shriek and crash of enemy shells. Once when the enemy planes were dropping bombs the lights had to be suddenly switched off and the performance was hung up for nearly half an hour. Up to date, Aehi Baba is still being played to crowded houses, and so excellent is the performance that it seems likely to provide'a record "run" at the front.

During the year that has just closed the expenses of the New Zealand Divisional Theatre have been 30,141 francs, and the takings 77,813 francs, leaving net receipts to the amount of 47,0-27 francs. The profits are, of course, put to good use in the interests of the men who were fighting in France and Belgium- .