CHILDREN ON THE STAGE.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 177, 21 April 1908, Page 3

CHILDREN ON THE STAGE.

Miss Ellalinev Terriss has an article* in the ''Daily Mail", on • the stage, as a profession for children... I have; she says; heard peiplo argue that 'it; is not;- a fitting profession, - because, in ihe. first place i it shows them an artificial iand bad side of, life; secondly! because; it takes them' away -from their lessons; and, thirdly, because, it unsettles ; them' and unfits.them for work : afterwards) . ■

L cannot agree: with : such. views,' -inco my experience, .which. is rather extensive,' of children on the, stage has 'given'me.. quite different impressions -on this subject;^ My husband and-■ !■' have, been, giving children's plays for. years how, .and we always make special preparations for, the accommodation : of the little people at'bur theatres- In order that they shall: be kept in ..-theirtown surroundings we pirovide tliem with special dressing-rooms; while those who ought to be at school have lessons given to them at certain times when they are; not on the stage.' As'--for-,the. stage,unfitting them for -'.other w j°T.> I .have' found the 'exact opposite to be the case. Many of/the'children whom' we employ come from quite poor homes,'where it is/, ■uncertain' -'.what . sort .ofT'work .they : will eycntually take np,the,odds being that they Will take .whatever theyare' fortunate enough :to get.' 'In such circumstances, regular work' . ® n . iJi l6 „ stage -sorves to ■ accustom; them' to' / become punctual; many to be 'thti. -'to other, employment' .which ■ they ivould probably not fitted to ;undekake but for their , sound early training; upon the boards. : j-rt 4 ' S really quite-surprising; to note the difference an engageriient . works in many of the children ..who come to us. ,They arrive ragged and ill-fed,..often to ask for employment because . "father is' out of work" or "mother is so ill," and,-needless to say in such circumstances we giy'e them what they want, if we possibly can: .-; But, after a comparatively short, stay at the theatre their. , whole appearance becomes quite changed, and, even .though their clothes may be old, there is an air of neatness and. cleanliness about them which it is very pleasant to no- ■ tice. ■ ■ .v

■ ~ .They have, .of course/" many - things to learn .before .they are able': efficiently : to fill the.parts for which they are required, and in this_connection'.there is one very disappointing feature about children on the stage, which is—that they iwill grow so, quickly! Consequently,. the fairies of one year are too big . for their roles in another year or two's time, and a; fresh; lot pf children have to be procured and taught all..oyer again. The task of obtaining --'children; for the stage nearly always brings to light at least one or "V? touching little stories of childish devotion or unselfishness. I think that tho most remarkable .story of -this' kind was in connection with a. little girl whom, we had with us some years ago at the Vaudeville Theatre. One day; on my way to the., theatre, Icame upon a most pathetic little figure of a child who was crying her heart out, and from whom . | Co,J !4xS et H 0 reply -when T.first ,spoke ; to iier. . Once haying overcome' her shyness, however, I; was :ablo >tp-discover -the details of her story, which,-alas! was-a-too common • on ®V -, r ' ' fler ' father was ■ dead;. her mother kept to a bed of. sickness,' and "tlio only; other relative sho, . an. uncle, had'gone, to Canada some years before, and was now completely lost sight of. And so, determined to; do .something towards easing tho terrible poverty of their home, this poor mite ' .had - been 1 spending'■ several days in tramping round, the great-city trying to find some - sort -of ; ; work; that: might- bring - in a' fow pence which she might take back to her , mother. . - All her efforts had been unsuccessful so far, and she was beginning to despair of being able to do" anything helpful, although she wished it so much. _ I listened with mingled feelings to the' broken story of hardship and suffering which, bit by bit, she told -me, and, when it was over,- took her along with me to the theatre and arranged for her to become one of tho stage fairies straight away. Her delight over 1 . her; new .work .was.; pretty, to witness, and' - slie_ showed the greatest intelligence in learning . that was ,taught her.- ' in a very short time, she: became one of- tho best stage children whom we had with us On several occasions-Invent with.her to .visither mother, but : poor woman was. past -all earthly help, and soon aftehvards she died - A home'was then found for tho child/with regular employment,-but -sho always camo to us for. the Christmas pantomimes to -take her part ,as a fairy. : ; , . ; , .One, night - an: old gentleman : occupying . a front seat in the stalls was so much struck by her appearance that ho. came round after- -, . wards to ask _if he might have a chat with the. child, out at tlio samo timo that ho was a.--'lonely old man with private means, so that he might ,be ablo to do something for her. And this is whore > the won- . derful part of the; story comes in, for this old man turned out to be no less a'person than the uncle of our protegee, who havinc made a fortune in Canada, had now como home -to spend -the remaining years of his life in his native land.' Arrangements \wero soon < made 'for his niece to live with him and I should not be surprised if our poor little waif of a few -years back becomes ono day a comparatively, rich young woman! This story is,: of course, a most uncommon one, but r could tell of cases whero a child's early connection with the stago has proved to bo a vory useful start in life loading to.pormanent employment and regular wages afterwards..--.: