MR TOOLE'S TOUR.

Press, Volume XLVIL, Issue 7691, 24 October 1890, Page 5

MR TOOLE'S TOUR.

A CHAT WITH MISS VANBBgttH Arilf-OSS JOHNSTOHK. [WZ OT7R SPECIAL BSTO&CSaLJ - -*I tfeiak it tea shame,** caM Mies Yaabrugb, as I bade her oon voyage on a boating excursion on our beautiful river, " that Mr Toole and Mr Billington should I Have aM the interviewing to themselves. ! I should co like to be interviewed. It must be fun." ** Yes," added. Miss Johnstons, with a mischievous twinkle in her eyas, "could you not interview us together F* ftNow.it has been my lot tointerviewall sorts and conditions ot men—and women—not forgetting a Bishop, in the small hours of the morning, but I confess my courage fell at the prospect of interviewing two ladies at once. However, that reputation for gallantry and devotion- to ladies, which hsts always been a strong point in the character of newspaper men, had to be sustained, and I threw myself into the breach, aud the die. was caec. -Accordingly this afternoon I paid a visit to the two ladies, aud was soon immersed io pleasant chat on things theatrical. "I -went regularly on the ataj?e," said Miss J Vanbrugh. "in 188S, though I had been performing at Margate and elsewhere just j for practice, you Know, some time before. I appeared in 'Alice in Wonderland*' a sort of extravaganaa for ctu> dreiij .adapted from the well-known book. In which 1 played tho White (jueen and the Knave of Hearts. Then I played Jessica to Miss Achurch's Portia. - You are to have Miss Achurch here shortly, and 1 think you will like her. I joined Mr and have since been playing the leading juvenile lady. I may say that in; one or two of the parts I play' I made my first appearance in; Australia. There was Xucy Garner in ' Dearer than Life,* and Dora in ' The; Don,' for instance.' Inever played these before I came to Australia. How do I like the colonies ? Well, I think they arei simply charming. I have never before been away from England, except to Paris, which is only a few, hours off, and I thought I should be terribly homesick 'when I contemplated a trip of sixteen thousand miles. But the kindness we have received, the eaarmiug hospitality extended to us here as well as in Australia, has made us feel quite at home." Here, Miss Johnstone, who had been sitting in an armchair watching with much covert' amusement the process of JUiterviewiag—almost as bad as having a tooth out—which her friend was undergoing with such fortitude, interposed a remark. J "What has ,' struck us," said she,' ." is the spontaneous Madness' and 1 -, homeliness, if 1 may "use the word, we have met iv Christ-: church. We have been, made part of the; "family, and parses* rowing excursions,; and all kinds of pleasant times have been arranged tor, us. ' . 'Now, said Miss Vanbrugh, "I want! to tell you how delighted 1 am with the .audiences.** "" . , : ~]" Ah," said Miss Johnstone, " don't' forget that. The colonial audiences are splendid. They take' every point up with a keenness and discrimination we have seldom met with. Our pieces never went better than here, and the' 'Princess Theatre, Melbourne, I regard as one of the finest theatres.in the world.) You want to know about my theatrical career. Well, 1 went on the stage at the early' age of six months, and have been in theatres ever since. I have played the children's parks to all the great tragedians. I was Fleance with Macready and James Anderson, and I have played with all the great lights of the stage. I remember a very comical incident at the Surrey' Theatre, where I was; playing with Messrs Creswick and Shepherd. It was in* Money.' I was then a | '. slim figure, and I was put. in to' a. page's! suit, with an eruption of buttons to j make the announcements. Well, as yon know, the run of a play in London is for a year or two, and as I grew, first the suit; i sopn began to he too small for mc. Stilt I I had to go on in It, though my arras, were much too tar through the sleeves of: I the Jacket. . Ultimately I got a new suit. I have been seventeen years with Mr Toole, and never wish to have a better manager. 4 Yes, I have for some time been. playfuK.in comed'yV though I have played gerious parts, such as the boy. in 'Never Too Late to Mend' and others. By the vvaj, vpfy father, Who wrote 'The Golden Parmer,' 'Jack and Jack's Brother,' and a host of..other pieces of the kind, .was the first to adapt Charles Reade's work' of 'Never Too Late.' 1, am delighted with the coloMes, and shall a} ways remember my trip; with the greatest possible pleasure. The only time I left Mr Toole was when he sent pie to play * Jones's Lover.,' I don't mean that I played, the lover, joii know, but 1 played m the piece,** j :.,4.s the ladies had an engagement for afternoon tea I took my leave, after a most pleasant chat, and I trust that the interview given above" has enabled tha tv/oj ladies who are prime favorites here, both aoriaUy and on the stage, to vindicate the. rights og.wpman to be conslderedi .noon's eq.ua! even to the extent of being interviewed. " ".'",-'■.-. .'--.V- ■