THE THEATRE.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 104, 25 January 1908, Page 13

THE THEATRE.

* - (Bt " Sylvius.") J " Tho world's a theatro, tho earth ' a stage."—lioywood. ' , " Tho Isle of Dong Bong." ■' --i ■ - . As tho. now musical comedy, . " Tho Isle of Bong Bong," to be produced" by tho Pollard Opera Company this'evening, has never, yet been played in tho Antipodes, I haTori'fc. the ) slightest conception what : it'is like, but-I gather from Mr; Pollard that it is as bright ' a piece as any company .under hia control hiis. ever produced; is rich: in excellent songs; > and is scenically of the gorgeous order. In any .case, Mr. Pollard lias always boon able to make any play interesting, and,"with him,: wo have high hopes for Bong'. Bong." , ', "'Ollirla.". in Melbourne... j ' Had Goldsmith written " Olivia this year 1 (says tho Melbourne "Ago") or last-year,; lie would have been, accused 'of- plagiarising' ; from many quarters. *. It would • havd: been; said that he. had taken too old an' idea idea of rustic innocence betrayed 1 by . titled villainy. As a matter of fact,- = ifc was this wandering, cx-Grub Street, eighteenth; century author who laid the foundation on which writers of melodrama have been building over since. In;.this instance'it; is. an ad-. , vantage to, go back to the-fountain head. The play staged on Saturday'..night wis a great favourite, .with 'the -late; Sir Ilenry Irving, and for that reason alone should be of interest !•'to Melbourne' theatregoers.' But even without this 'High recommendation, ; it should, oa its' prove ''attractive! Xts story of tho Vicar and his family follows the novel with' sufficient closenessto' ; satisfy. [ lovers of an English classic. . The characteri-; .satioir is cTearly marked on the stage as it , is in the' hook. The doublo love story-Hhat of Olivia and tho perfidious Squire Thornhill, , as well as that of Sophia-and-the good Sir. ■William—is ; as interesting as every well-told love story ought to be. Tho literary merit ■ and associations of tho work' giro it a claim 011 all'who pride themselves'on a. love for high class drama, while the Philistines are placated by an ending'as happy, as anyone, could desire; Even the'villain in Olivia is savod from the fato of other villains; ho is only modorately. punished for his endeavour ' to trap the heroine into a'-false marriago, and at the end- is found sitting'on tho stool of repentance, clothed and in his'right mind. 1 There are strong scenes in tile play, notablywhen hero and-would-bo seducer .meet in the second act; while there are, also' -amusing : scenes, as, for oxample, when the studious 1 but unbusinesslike Moses returns to tell his parent's of his " bargains " at tho fair. Thero are also emotional scones, in which tho Vicar plays the central part. Roy Redgrave In Vaudeville. .. ' ,Mr. Roy Redgrave, whose performances as l'lambeau in "Jj'Aiglon and Mercutio in"Romeo and Juliet" with Miss Tittel Brune will bo well remembered, has gone into 'vaudeville; Says.a recent "Stage" (December ■ 12): —" A Near Thing," the new monologue sketch in which Mr,. Roy Redgraro appeared as the gambler , hero at the Standard,- Shoreditch, on tho occasion of Messrs. Melville's benefit recently, proved such a great, success that* it was immediately booked by Mr. Fred lJatigli,.and Mr. Reifr grace will appear in it next Monday at;the Surrey. The monologue is l quite a novelty in its way, and oilers great opportunities for the actor, both as a comiidian and strong emotional leading man, thus giving scopo for Mr. Redgrave's well-known versatility.' Mr. Redgrave, by tho way. was for three years loading man- at tho old Britannia, whero he was frequently called upon to play such widely , divergent parts as Othello t one, week and the Shaugran tho next. "lie Stage, of the Pacific Slope. ~ : Acute observers of the. trend of theatrical enterprise in tho United States .maintain that during tho next'decade.tlio Pacific Slopo and the Pacific Coast will develop so rapidly, that the production of plays there, and of artists to act them, .will almost entirely free them from tho present domination of New York. One of the most prominent of li ring actor-managers, o.ur one-time visitor, Nut Goodwin, has built a beautiful new home at Ocean Park, California, in the ifirm belief that within his own now waning lifotime tho coast "will become the resort of the whole nation with a promise in the theatrical lino, as great as its prospect of material development," Mr. Henry Russell, .who engineered tho visit of the. San Carlo' Opera Company to Coveut Garden last year, brought his splendid organisation AVest, and : 'played in San Francisco a season, at which tho matinees, reached 7000dol. every, time, and this sue--cess in bringing Mme. Lilian Nordiea' and similar stars to the Far West seems to have convinced him that in no little time ■ that part the States will support grand opera enterprises formed especially for itinEuropo. In 1903 this country was''visited by a Californian dramatic company, headed by Daniel Frawley and Mary Van Huron, which plaved "Arizona, "Tho Girl I Left Behind Mo," "Barbara Freitchie," etc. Tho visit, did not provo financially of any groat account, but a number of new plays wore placed before audiences in sterlin gfushion, and, though thero wero no "stars," all tho representations wore well worth seeing, and deserved a better support than was accorded. Not that the seasons wero in any sense a failure', but tho results did not justify tho cost and trouble of so long a journey to a strange land. According to an article in tho "Owland Monthly,"-a first-rate stock..combination of this character is no .. linqominou thing in the Western States. The ali.fstic hope and rosy future that lies before ti>em is founded on the very circumstance that for half a century has held them back—their comparative isolation. There is no such stimulating influence for tho cities of tho Middle West. These are so easily accessible to Now York and the producing centres of tho Fast that they depend wholly upon tho metropolis for everything, and have not been stirred to energy or ambition. The various "stands," as tuny are termed, Lot for one night or a month, grow more ami morn numerous, and the really great successes need not come West at all. "Peter Pan," already two years old, lias not yet crossed the Great Divide. Belasco's now famous "Girl of tho Golden West" is as unknown in San Francisco as it is in London. Upon the foundation of this scarcity, this dearth, has. arisen the characteristic' Stock Company, which finds v nq 'parallel outside the. Western States, whichiives solely within them. During the past few years an increasing number of dramas lias been written for these companies by Western writers, a fact which sup-ports-the belief that in America, the country of strange things and magnificent distances, a theatre independent of t he New York play market may become permanent. A Something Belter Yearn. It's curious—apropos tho glut of molo- or semi-melodramatic shows staged in our chief cities of late (writes "J.D." in tho "Bulletin") that Williamson doesn't givo us something which has stir arid colour, and yet is of literary value. It would surely pay. Thero is no lack just now of capable artists to interpret good plays. Picture Ola Humphrey, for example, iu "The Master Builder." Sbo would be great. Sho has tho voice, and sweet emotional face, and the temperament to mako a porfect Hilda. 1 The part, of the Master Builder himself < would glisten with "fat'' for our own Julius, •' and be calculated to inspire that mimo far I more, one trows, than the portraying of 1 "Silver Kings" and tho like.- And' towns- ■ folk (if only at the start bccauso Ibsen camo ' as a new thing to them) v.-ould Hock to i satisfy their curiosity, or to be in tho niovo- i mcnt; and go again afterwards, because, for I all his obscurities, Ibsen, capably acted, has i a genuine grip. Shaw plays, again, "draw" i nowadays lilio wikllire in N UIV York, i don, and tho British provinces. There is ; no reason to think wo Australians are any less appreciative of good stuff, than our connections oversea. A robust piece, -tccmiii" with life and observation, such as (say) "Tho c Devil's Disciple," would bo a magnificent i opportunity for a sound handler oP delmn- t nairely heroic roles (again Julius occurs with 1 insistence), and there aro no minor parts t wU>ch uiiaht not be. well fllqd loca.U?. Thol-

Humphrey lady would bo .great as'the'exquisite young woman* m ""Captain Brass-' bound s Comei sion"—sho who, by her blighting common sonsß, rums ever tho. "attitudo towards lifo of her highfalutin L soa--lover captor—aud humour-lovers . lioro • would - greet tho acid wit of tho lines ;with great" (and paying) Jo > AVo don't ' get crude melodrama in - Australia becauso wo . want it l ):lr , tlc ,V l - ai 1 1 3'- position is .that. tho. managers :.think.- wo do. Undoubtedly,' wo badly want borne, brand of drama,. and* failing l ' a \goodj bmnd, aio prepared' to pay;'cheerfully.' tlie.so cood times for... an, .indifferent one;--Jilt.' tho real dramatic' gold orio ucsido ivlnch that of Bilandorson- will seem . affair,; and a.deposit.pf'ißun.dic.l and ,i narrow S!d>vt. reef—awaits the dauntless original who tries-f'the vexperimeht'. of" presenting to us something m: theline which;; ls.-of- reab.interost 'and; .'