A PLAY WITH A MORAL.

Auckland Star, Volume XLI, Issue 246, 17 October 1910, Page 3

A PLAY WITH A MORAL.

TESTIMONY iEIIOM..THE.PDJiRI'r..i

So seldom does .tie. Church, commend the stage, that it. is. worthy ojf .special note when a irunister. from.his...pulpit speaks favourably. regarding a performance at tAe Theatre. -.._ Last, evening, the Key. Henry Steele.;Craik,...preaching to a large congregation in■- Beresfordstreet Congregational- Church, said that the existence of the.theatre_-in the Empire to-day was largely -due to the fact that the Church first employed the stage as a means of teaching aa ignorant peasantry Bible stories -by means oi tableaux. The Church had now lost its hold upon that medium of •instruction, The theatre had • .become -a place, of amusement, and, in the hands of .men who were catering for the public taste, rather than ministering to the ideal life of their fellows, the stage" "had ■bec.onje a synonym —in the minds of many good people —for much - that "is'low and unworthy. They were, however, faced.with the fact that the theatre had eomeito stay. It was now a fixed factor in modern , civilisation. The .problem, was not that of abolishing it, tout that of purifying it—a problem wholly in the hands of the public. The serious'playwrights, oi to-day, he was glad to say, i.'ere out to make the theatre a factot in the education tmd- uplifting of the and real problems were put before the-public eye. "The Passing of the Third Floor B&ck," now" being presented in Auckland, was a serious play, seriously, and sympathetically played. It was' a source of great satisfaction to him personally, and it must , be to all those who had the public welfare .at heart, to realise that two young New Zealanders came before the .publi-e, supported by an altogether excellent company, in a play of that type. Success in such a venture was somi'what problematical. Speaking as a mere layman, he thought that this particular company could, most creditably produce a more popular kind -of play, tout the management was to tie congratulated on putting before the public something that would cause them to tliink seriously, that would, if the public allowed it t6 do so, preach an eloquent sermon, and which would stir men and -women to the nobility of life. "Mx Craik then applied a moral 'by referring to the stranger—He who had not -where to lay His head, whose influence upon a. man's life was towards honour, service, or self-giving.