THE THEATRE.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 134, 29 February 1908, Page 12

THE THEATRE.

• (By "Sylvius.")' j

"Tho world's a theatre, the earth a stage."—Heywood. ' Brandon Thomas's New Play. . Mr. Thomas always exhibits in his'work qualities that placo him far in advanco of th'o ordinary playwright. Ho lias individuality, virility, spiritual insight,■' independence of thought, humour, sincerity, a charming facility of apt and incisive expression, and an artistic infallibility in tho writing'of scenes. "Tho Witching Hour" is fascinatingly interesting in many of its details, but .on the whole the play, proves .nothing and is without siibstanco and truth.

Wo (says tho "Thcatro") do not undertake to sweep aside, with a single \ sentence, the •mysteries of the human , soul in its communication with tho living and tho.deadjwo do not doubt tho sincerity of anyone who is ready to ,believo anything and everything. By means of credtilify and speculation great .secrets piay ba unlocked. It is ono path to truth. There is.a good deal of practical religion in it all. Tho man who' believes that the spirit of his departed wife is by his side at all times will bo a better citizen and a purer and tenderer man by reason.of it. Tho. all-seeing eyo of former associates , leaning over tho balustrades of Heaven watchilig you should keep one straight. It is dynamio morality when one may bo called to book through an animated table leg, or if spiritual forms oan emerge from cabinets and advise one where to tind lost articles or whether to go ion a .distant journey. We do not decry the finding of concealed pins, by; a blindfolded psyoliist, although that is not an locr cupation that can be commended to tho un-' remitting attention of mankind. 'It is perhaps not remarkable -, that when you see telepathy in the neighbourhood you should bo sure that Spiritualism is' around tho corner and that Christian Scienoo is on thoway,

These same and a few other cults and superstitions arrived, in "Tho Witching Hour." One of the incidental causes in tho action is a cat'js-eye, a most baneful stone, It-is flashed in the face of an innocent young ma)i by a completely-obnoxious young man, who immediately suffers the more or l less proper penalty -for:: his tonje\ity ' and halfurunken brutality. The innocent, young man becomes a murderer., by-.tho swift use of a heavy ivory paper cutter, The'impression that is left is that this is a trivial mattor, The important thing is the telepathy that it.gives occasion to. ■ ■ v

What is the play ; about?, John Mason is a convort to telepathy; ho "has occasion- 1 to exercise it on the trial of, the callow youth for-murder. ' He docs so successfully-and' tho existonco of telepathy is thus demonstrated. V .The; plot by means'of which this is worked out Ms' not entirely consitent, although' entertaining. Tho boy is cleared, 0110 would think, by tho testimony of a Justice of.tho Supremo Court of the. United States that'ho had once fought a duel'with tho boy's father on" account of a eat's-eye, proving that the insanity or ' superstition was inherited. It does - settle it. It is tho only thing, to tho' ordinary mind, that, could have.secured tho aoquittal of the boy. .'. But the interest in tho play, is only slightly dependont upon him. .No one cares for tho neurotic shrimp. Mi". Thomas comes as near as possible to proving this theory .of telopathy, but all that ho has dpiio is to give us a series! of.;diverting; scenfes, the incidents being accepted for the purposes of the 'moment only;. It is only out of extreme courtesy that'we accept tho possibility of:suoh a -polite, accomplished gambler who has mado a' fortune by private poker games in his own house. Mr.. Thomas' plays very adroitly ; wjtlv-.hi?,<.gpnqral subject arid, is -ajways -" interesting in his treatment of it in incidents; ,Mr., Mason js.,yisi,tq<l f ap his homo -by.:the 'Judge,-who' fsf'travelling and has heard- of a Cprot that'he .wishps, to'see. In discussing ituho anticipates more,than oiice what is In tho mind of the gambler, the amount .that ho might be willing to consider and. tho'liko. . Do you often pick answers like' that P"; ho asks,' whereupon : tho J udgo -enlightens, him, with -supremo confidence, 011 tho subject. The murder happens. Mason makes a, visit, accompanied 'by" tho mother of tho boy, .to tho Judgo at Washington in order, to/obtain his evidenco in the matter of oat's-eyos; " He is reluotant to consider aijy representations at first,'as inconsistent with propriety; although it is difficult - to imagine now the case would' evor come before a Federal Judgo. . This act—originally presented- as a ,'one-aot play at a Lambs' gajnbol -—.is beautifully developed.The mother reveals to him that her- mother was ■th<j woman ho loved in-his young manhood. Tho trial ''begins • and; telepathy,-ia turned jon to . furnish a current 6f; action, accomplish? 'iilg nothing, • but- seeming to accomplish' everything. Tho District Attorney, having boon rejected,by Mason as a suitor for th? girl in- tho case, is hife enemy; and is doing 'his ..bust to have, the boy .'Hanged. ; Mason aits' in the seclusion of : his room concentrating his mind on'ono doubtfurjuror, ' -; Ho has also caused to bo published a charge that tho District Attorney had planned the mur- ; dor of Goobel, tho prafitjioal. bearing of which is that.several hundredthousand ■ minds -would,. throw their dynamic force into tho matter, arid 1 defeat tho District;. Attorney. ••These' -minds sc.t. to work .and tho' bey is cleared; tho- District, Attorney rushes' ilii antl thrusts a pistol-ihtpithe manly and telepathic bosom of Mason, who fixes him with his eyo, tolls him ho cannot shoot,, cannot pulj tho trigger, and, cannot hold the 'pistol, in his hand, Ivhoroupdn;;tho would-be • assassin drops it and asks in amazement, .wfth. a virile txpres-. sion, how, h'Q did it, Later.onho helps tho Attprnoy. to .escape across the river into Indiana, confossihg that ho had thought of the same , plan to-murder Qoebel and must have 'communicated it to tho Attorney. '

" Tlte Right of Way."' ; , A of neglected opportunities—such, is the impression created by tho di-amatisation in Amoricn'-'of Sir Gilbert Parker's: novel, " Tho Right of Way" (says a writer in ' Munsey's")._ Tho writer admits that ho lias not read o'no hook, and baSes his opinion only on seeing tho play itself, which is, brilliantly effqetivo hero and thero, hut for tlio jnost part,. and absolutely unsatisfying in its ending. Here we liavo n man who lives unhappily, with. his wife, de.liberately seok's death in a.'quarrel, and, instead of death, awakens to a new life after ono of those experiences of which .novelists aro so fond—a blpw.on tho; head which de;stroys his memory' of the past.'' In this other lifo ho meets a girl, and falls in lovo with her—his first real lovo affair; and thq girl loves him devotedly in return, i'hreo years of this existence, aijd ho .consents to/an operation to remove the bleod-clot that has clogged his brain.' The operation is success- 5 fill, and the man rouses from tho anaesthetic his old selfish self again. "Now," says tho spectator, "for a big scene with the sweetheart when she finds her lover does not remember her"; but tho spectator is choated by tho playwright. The man. does rcmouitjer hor, thero is no big scone, and the nearest approach to one is quite nullified later on, when, after hayiiig declared that lib : will marry tho girl whether'or no, tho hcro coos back on his word and announces at tho final curtain that ho is going on alone. Where ho is going to nobody knows, and few carpi, ; ■

Edwin Ceach's Dramatlo Company,

It is somo timo siuco wo have had a dosa of melodrama in its black and white ingenuousness, but the horriblo waiting will soon bo over, for Mr. Edwin Geach advises mo from Sydney that his Premier Dramatic Organisation will begin a tour of this Dominion at tlio Opera Houso on March 12 in Edward Thano's thrilling drama, "Lured to London." To got back to melodrama after a courso ' of comedy, musical comedy, and comic opera, is liko getting back to tlio simple life. In Lured to Loudon " theso is sharply-defined villainy, puro • hearty heroism, truo lovo thwarted, and a final reconciliation—all the ingredients of; a popular melodramatic dish, The company consists in the main of the members of the' Bland Holt Company, with Mr. Max Maxwell and Miss Harrio Ireland in prominent roles. Other dramas in the r©-

pertoiro are " A Modern Adventuress," " Tim Power of the Cross," and "The Heart of »- Hero." Notes, Mr. 'J. C. Williamson is returning to instralia on board the new Orient steamer" Asturias,' which is duo to reach* Fremantle this week. His visit .to Old World centres and to tlio United States has been particularly productivo of interesting engagements promising a nicet attractive time theatrical ,in Australasia for a .year or two to come. Tho first of tho "new tilings'' ho has acquired for this country is, of course, " I'ctcr Pan," the final arrangements for tlio. production .of which in Melbourno at Easter' time lie.only concluded , a few months' ago. Among other pcoplo engaged for it is.Mr. Carlton, already well on his way out frpm America to act as stago manager. . Ho conies with tho strongest recommendations from Mr. J. M. Barrio and Mr. Charles Frohmann, both standing sponsors for, liis ability to Mr! Williamson. . An obituary notico is one of those tilings that tho man it. concerns hover sees, but thej'o are exceptions to tho rule, and Mr. Bert Gilbert is one of them. It was at Plymouth that tho " accident " occurred which E av ° him tho opportunity of reading what other people thought of him. liq had gone for a row,,andi returning unnoticed to his hotel, had fa.llpn asleep. The chambermaid, sent to his ,room at the ir.stanco of the man,aj?or of tho company, who missed him at 7 o clock, found it in darkness, and immediately jumpod vto' tho conclusion that he was drowned—she never thought of looking on the bed which was behind tho door. Tho news quickly got around, and Mr: Gilbert awoko at 0 o'clock |ie was greeted as he rushed down to tho thcatro by the shouts of the evening paper-sellers, crying "Fatal accident to Mr. .Bert Gilbert." All his "'associates in tho'theatre bad given hini; up, ■ but the gloom which overspread tlio performance gave placo to rejoicing, not unmixed with consternation, when lib made his appearance supposedly from the dead. : ,