Reporter’s diary

Press, 26 January 1988, Page 2

Reporter’s diary

Up and away AUSTRALIA’S bicentennial celebrations were not the only thing to take to the air last week. The celebration's organisers decided to remove a row of portaloos that were obscuring the tourists’ view of the tall ships in Sydney Harbour. Workmen knocked on each door to check that no one was inside, before the portaloos were hoisted a metre in the air, on a forklift. Everything went uneventfully until the morning air was rent by screams of panic. The occupant had been embarrassed and had ignored the knock. Page of history GARAGE sales can turn up the unexpected. A Christchurch reader discovered an old photograph tucked away in a second-hand book bought at a neighbourhood sale. But who were these men in the picture? Why were they wearing white aprons and serious expressions? Victorian butchers, bakers or candlestick makers? The book’s title was appropriate — “The Mystery of Edwin Drood.” Game, set and er... THE recent Australian open tennis tournament featured international players. But one French professional failed to arrive for his match. Despite the attempts of officials, the Frenchman could not be. found. His name? Guy Forget. The nose knows A Christchurch reader found an advertisement for the latest Hollywood version of “Cyrano de Bergerac” a trifle on the nose. According to the breathless prose emerging from thee public relations people, "Roxanne,” star-

ring Steve Martin, is based on the “traditional” story about “the amorous adventures of the seventeenth century captain of the guard.” Our reader, who happens to have some academic knowledge and a lifetime’s fascination with de Ber-

gerac’s story,, says that the man was never a captain of the guard, and the original play, by the nineteenth century playwright Ednjond Rostand, is much more than a frothy romance. It is a classic tale. During World War I, de Bergerac was even

regarded as an honorary member of the French Army. But the public relations people behind “Roxanne” were upstaged by the puff for a film version of “Hamlet,” which blithely described Ophelia as “that sexy Danish princess ..