THE THEATRE.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 425, 6 February 1909, Page 9

THE THEATRE.

"The world's a theatre, the earth a stage,"— i , Heywood. ; • ■ . -■■:■' ( ■ ' ■ (Bγ Sylvibs.) n i Ristori Honoured. ! • The -.matinee, performance "given at His i Majesty's Theatre, in London, in December, in honour of 'the memory of Adelaide Ris- i ' tori was a tremendous affair of its kind. Mr. i Tree was seen as Shylock, Forbes Robertson ] as Hamlet, .Mr. Alexander and Irene Van- * brughin "The Thief," Oscar Ascbo'and'Lily. } Brayton in "The Taming of the .Shrew," ] Geneviove Ward as Lady Macbeth (wearing ( the mantle of Ristori), H. B. Irving re- '; ■ 'cited,.Sir..Charles Santley and Ben Davies ] : sang, -and many other popular performers ( ';' participated. . proceedings . closed. with i : Miss .WardV recitation of an ode by Louis < N. Parker, of which the following is a speci- i ■'men-verse::■ .'••.:.' .-■ ■■■■■•':.•'•'.'.■' .-.- i ■ • ::■'■."'■ -."■■■'■. ■' ■" ' ' ■ ■ '..-. ■ ■ ■■"'■] look,.how,.they pass across the stately scene.'' ] . The mourning ladies, all in love with death; i . Mary of Scotland;aud Elizabeth; -..■". Eosamunda. and Ottavia; and that Queen : j Who smiling knelt before , the guillotine; J ' Jrancesba; Myrrha—see! with bated breath J And rigid eyes; the sad wife of Macbeth. \ Rubbing her hands—What! will they ne'er be ' : . ' clean?— -... .. .-.--. ■:; .. , 1 . ;■'Deborah; Bianca; Phaedra, from above : ■By'cruel Venus cursed with guilty "love. ( '.'The Builder of Bridges." v < . '••;• Mr. Alfred Sutro's new play, "The Builder of-Bridges,".which was produced in the Lon- E 'don-St. James's Theatre, in November, may r ; be : interesting in action, but it. tells a highly . ■ sentimental,;illogical, complicated,, and un- :.. sympathetic. story. Dorothy, the' heroine, who . is-about ••'to be married, learns that' her bro- 1 theivArnold ■ is an "embezzler, but'that the 1 only man "who ; can convict him of the fact t is one Edward'Thursfield. .-Thereupon, heed- i less of her. previous' engagement, siie follows 1 Thursiield abroad, makes violent-love to him, , s and soon makes him her devoted slave. In E due course they are engaged,, and she be- '.* lieves that his secrecy is- assured. But her ' .;brother will not accept; her sacrifice. ~ He would rather, he declares,,confess, and this I . ;ho proceeds to do to the manager of' the firm,;-who tells Thursfield. ...The latter: magnanimously makes: good tho deficit out p£ Ins \ . own-pocket, on condition .that the innocent J , Dorothy.! shall be told nothing about it/ But, , of she. soon "learns the , truth,, and • then, Mn. order to reimburse Thursfield, tries • j to : borrpw the money from her first lover to j 'whom she is. still betrothed. ■ , When.he"de- . to'oblige her, she declares the engage- ? : .nieut off, 'thereby setting herself free, as sho ■thinks^ irpm .one entanglement.: But.she is '1 ' precipitate :in;this,, for the', dismissed lover 1 determines to'retrieve himself and. turns Up i with; the money when Thursfield is incon- i voniently. present., Explanations follow,' and Thursfield, with justifiable contempt, 'washes his hands. of : the whole affair and starts for ; Africatp build bridges—hence the-title. But Dorothy.love's him.in deadly.' earnest by this : time, and manages' to. assure .him of that fact,, whereupon the conventional recoricilia : tion is effected.' Plainly, there is not much' that is valuable in'this : tale, either in respect': of'life, or "morals, , but it is said that » Mr> Sutro has exhibited considerable clever-: 'ness in'the telling of: it, and as there are : 'excellent parts for George Alexander and ' Irene ■Vanbrugh'thepiece.is' expected to have •' a popular and .profitable career. ' v '" a ;..'.-'■..!.:.-...;.-•: . . '■■■■■' • . ..... ■-. .- J { Waltbr Baker Redivlyus. ', ! Baker,, the beloved of ;Bland a ■Holt's gallery .gals ior a section, of a lifetime, j ' has matte a'.'reappearance in Melbourne after a .4 ,iong ; absence irom tile ssage,- r m his own c drania,, ''Bailbr . jack." ut tne- production \ the '■•Australasian"-'says':—''Why should.not s ; Mr. Baker write.his own plays;:' irbm long I experience as a hero, he unows , every move, i ;iii melodrama, knows exactly what his au- t 'aiences. like, and: just what ho should give I tnem. So while 'bailor. Jack , presents notn- i ing new, it ia at least cctual to most'of the s plays ■' turned, out by the • recognised London- ' ipurveyprs—a tnlleirominiscem;, : . perhaps,' in 8 ' ,tbe|ihcidMs, observations,:and virtues which ; it'recalls/- but .smooth, /'actable, .picturesque. ': JNo.oiie'worries' about the'want of novelty; Mr. Baker;; .u'ndorstands the-actor's .'craft as '.'•. !Avell.:;as.;,tn9 .theatrogoers-: desire;- there..are i -no "mislitting: r jomts, but !everywhere' r in. the i . progress, of■'■; the"story. are. smart • little' unex- ' 1 :peoued. coups,- bits'of well-planiied : stage craft t ' .that"-'pleaseu--.:the'-.audience . immensely ■ by c keeping them always. ;iiiv expectation, and s which, coula only-havo been achieved by an v •expert/ The characters, however,rare quite I ,lainilia'r-;Gcorge' Sims,- Henry I'ettitt, ah. the t generations. of melodrama-makers used them a over and:over again.long ago. 1 Mr! Baker's' s justiQcation is'that ho ; has turned out. ; a i Urama pretty well up to the best'standard— c better by a ; great, deal' than; 50 per cent, of r ••.the..plays : ,-Wliich havo been .paid fpr,-'im- - ' -ported);;.and'.produced'- with''some,'success in t Australiaii'theati-es any time this last twenty \ ' years:'.(.And'having done-,so well for:a start,- < he ;will-:no, doubt keep on,'and "curbing- his s .experience,..giving Ins imagination greater, ( ,rein,..turtf.out something Wore, original arid' :hot less picturesque." ' ;: • ■■■ : -■ , ; :■"--. ! • ;. The -King's Theatre: audience is''the old Theatre Royal .patrons, who "have stepped , just across the way,-and they were heartily 'glad to ;see-Mr. .Baker-and Miss Frances Itoss upon the stage again. Both had a c splendid-.; welcome.- Mr. Baker is thinner, apparently fitter, and certainly looks younger £ than; he -was when ill-health compelled him ! : 'tostep .off, the' boards some, time-ago. In | -his own play he is less-iii evidence than in i most of: those pieces which managers have i selected for him.- : There is,;, if anything, too i lnucii self-depreciation, Mr.. Baker. is not J , often in 'the limelight, ;and he ; was- just to j , his colleagues in giving them.fair' oppbrtun- \ ity.- : Miss L ; Frances . Ross is Sailor- Jack's \ 'sweetheart-7-a"farmer's daughter, sweet, sim- ( • 'pie,.-aiidpicturesque.; . •■• .'-. : .-'...■ ':■,..■ .■.-■'.. '< the Coming ofoMotba. :"'.:•'. t" ;. ".V t ;■■ Madame Melba sailed by the; s.s'.Orohtes, which-left London on January 22, and is due ■ in Melbourno on March 3. The'first concert of the .tour: will [ be:' given.in- Melbourne on 'March,9. , Arrangements have been madefor twbi'.cpncerts ;at whioh Madame .Melba will a -grand orchestra under tho con- . ductorshii) of Mr. 'Marshall-Hall, The .full set of normal diapason intruments presented to the orchestra by Madame Melba will be ; . used for the. first time at these concerts. < ■ - .- ■ .. ; ' *l '. ■ . .:.■'. ' ' c Reminiscence. ; ~■,,';. t ■;■■' Lady' Ritchie's ; oharming ] Papers-".contain several essays and sketches s : of;musical interest. The picture.of the , late t .great;, violinist,; ■Joachim, Zeis ■ 'delightfully drawn. Oneof the most, striking. paragraphs ' is ! , that: in'.'which Lady .Ritchie .tells how Joachim' took his yiolin and : ,went:to play to ( a ■dying-lady':^".ln a dim/, curtained >ack , 'rooitij ldoking across another garden> tho'dy- ) ■ing 'mistress;-'-,0f.-' the house sat,' propped 1 up J with; cushions,--in' a chair. Joachim stood 1 ; with his back to the window, holding his vio- .'" lin, 'and .we waited in silence by the doorway t ■ while: he played gravely, and with exquisite c .beauty.;:-The : sad, solemn■ α-oom■:was ..full of ' the blessing of Bach, coming' like a; gospel to- * the sufferer in need of rest." . Another essav c gives a dainty, sketch: of Haydn; "beating = time to his own music, and unable to refrain ■ from smiling at the approach of some passage e with which he was pleased"; and'wo , are , also introduced to Gluck, " \yho had liis harp- i sichofd-carried out .into-a. flowering meadow ' 'and, .-placing'a bottle-of champagne at either * end, then and then*.devised ' Che , Faro,' for ? the delight of generations tecome." •■'. -.-' . | V/hy MissAnglin Did Not Come. f ~ 'There has , been.' a good deal pf criticism one . .way;hnd : another-as to why, after mouths of justifiable anticipation, Miss Margaret Anglin s did: not come to New Zealand: Some curious ' people, who make a point of sneering at or bludgeoning: every artist and manager whose \ business brings tliem. to New Zealand, will, s persist in endeavouring to persuade peoplo i that it is all- part of-a schome to give 'New s Zealaiid playgoers something inferior to that i enjoyed by tho Australian play-going .public. While there are--mstaiices where 'this has :■■ boon the caso, as in'the case'of Miss Anglin (who. everyone; was 'anxious to see) it is en- t tirely ' misleading and unjust to blame the » management. As a matter of. fact, most t of tho better-class artists are engaged for r eight or ten wceka , work iix Australia, and c

Now_ Zealand is not in. such cases reckoned within tho contract, so. that however much the management might desire to send such artists to the. Dominion they have tho legal right to cut out Now Zealand, should they desire to do so. Miss Anglin had played tfie full term of her original engagement in Sydnoy, Melbourne, and Adelaide, but.her health was. none of tho best owing to the-heat, the travelling, and rehearsals.- It is known that Mr. J. C. Williamson mado a very strong personal appeal to Miss.-Anglin to .come to New Zealand, and offered' her :a very sub-: stantial increaso on her salary to do so, solely in order to keep faith with tho Dominion public, but the lady could not see her way to yield to J. C.'s gilded' blandishments, and the. company had to leave Sydney-without her. In the main the companies sent across to New Zealand fall, little ..'short "of those seen in Melbourne:and Sydney: .-Take, the Royal Comic. Opera Cpmpairy in its palniy days standard is not' so' uniformly "high now Hecauseof the deterioration-'iri' the musical'work it is given to do). -The personnel was the. same in Wellington or/Dunedin'-as in Melbourne and Sydney; so it was with the Broughs, and with visiting companies from' England, almost without exception/ . The -little towns, of the North Island saw Macarthy's play "If I were King" before Melbourne did, - and with the same company, headed- by the still-life actor Mr. Onylor Hastings (who was not happy in the role of Francis Villon). ' Considering .New Zealand's geographical position, its population, and the enormous, cost of sending 'complete companies across'the Tasman Sea, we nave Avery reason to congratulate ourselves on the. theatrical catering. -'.jWe all have , our. ideals in art, , but are :Still :iible to take.some joy in tho ( endeavour-of. those .who may? riot in a strictly critical;sense reach:that;standard..,; Tosti Kiriighted. :' ;;'.;;r'" : ,:.;- A -: };/:; SignorPaolo Tosti, the "author, of the well-, known song, "Good-bye," hasbeen; invested by His Majesty as a Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order,-and:will henceforth be known as Sir Francesco Paolo .Tosti. For many years,he has been master of music at the State concerts in London and Windsor. 'It is rumoured that a new edition, of. the song will be shortly forthcoming, under the title of "Good. Night." : -' : ..;.'; '.■' Notes. : : ■ '■~..'.' .". :"'" ~-' -.. '/-. ; T , ,;''■■'. . A new play by.Eugene.Walterj "The : ; Easiest Way,".has been put in rehearsal by Mr. Belasco,,.and will bo seen in' New York early this year. Frances Starr, Joseph : Kilgour, arid William Sampson, aro in the east. There is an affectation of secrecy about the plot of this piece, without any evidence of great public'anxiety on'.the subject. -Mr, Walter has yet tOrWrite'a really.important 'play'.v:'.. - ■':'■" , Mr. Thos..Kingston!s:last engagementiwith. The Firm was. originally four .•mbnthsi'an'd.it has lasted,:three j'ears. ; He has :been-.of-fered ; a further re-engageriient, which' he iwill" in all probability accept. :\. .;■ ~' ■" ■'. ■' ..