THE THEATRE.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 484, 17 April 1909, Page 11

THE THEATRE.

: '"The world'B a theatre, th» earth a etago. , - , — ;HeyWOpd.' : '>.'j.V;. :.''>.'. ■ ;.■;:■,; ■■; , /:'?,.C..'>..'([By''BrLvroe.X' , - The "Royal Cotnlos." > Not since the days of.Nellie StewarVWallace Brownlow, Charles Ryley, Wm. Elton, Howard-Vernon, Flo. Graupner, Violet Var- : ley, and, of course, Florrie Young; eom© 19 years ago, has the Royal Comic Opera Company been.so uniformly strong when visiting New-Zealand .as on the present occasion. ■Quaint people have a notion that we in the Dominion do-not see the companies as they are constituted for seasons in-Melbourne''and. Sydney. .This cannot be levelled against the ■"Royal Comics," whom "Sylvius" had the pleasure of seeing in Sydney only a few weeks ■ago,,when the personnel of the company was -precisely what it is at the Opera House at present. On that occasion I. did not sec "The Merry Widow," in which Butty Ohls (recently ill) .succeeded Carrie Moore in the principal role,'but I saw "The Duchess.of Dantzic"—one of the finest lyrical works staged by the company for ten years—and the delightful "Dairymaids" that we are to see in Wellington next week. "The Duchess of Dantzic" is not to be played in this tour, more's the pity,' but there are compensations in "The Dairymaids,", and "The Girls of Gothenburg." The former is a Paul Ruben's composition'of the lightest order, yet full of. new ideas of, much charm. : The, first act is worked but in an idyllic farmyard,; where?tile girls are given honest ■ employment by. • Her Ladyship to make them independent, of the attentions of mere man. But,' in Her Ladyship's absence, a merry party of naval,men, with Reginald.Roberts as a smart lieutenant, Mr."Banty" Bantock as a jolly ship's surgeon, dapper, Willie Percy as Joe Mivens— a.tar with an accommodating heart—and Mr. Andrew Higginson as Lieut. Reg. Roberts's brother. This gay team assail the heart's of the patent-shoed dairymaids,, and matters are. progressing delightfully when her mandefying ladyship turns up unexpectedly—a check to half-a-dozen little romances. As she cannot trust the. girls on the farm she sends them all to Miss Pyechase's school;-and here orie gets a surprise." The stage is fitted up as a fine gymnasium and, when the curtain rises, some thirty pretty girls are discovered at all manner of exercises-rclubs,; dumbbells, boxing, at the punch-ball, foils, and Sandow ..exercisers, to which enters dainty Fanny Dango, who sings of "The Sandow Girl", to a calisthenic accompaiiiment of a dozen girls, .attired in perfectlj'-fitting, white gowns. It is' a -pretty waltz song and, as: a "turn,' , : is-one of the most attractive in the realm of musical comedy. MissvrDango also has. , ■ another delightful: song in the "Tinker, Tailor" number in which she prettily exercises her empire. over man from the tinker to the thief. .Of course,the lovers oannot be barred out for a whole act, so Messrs; Roberts and Higginson enact , two simpering girls, and, with Bantock as the stout parent, tney are accepted as students by Miss Pyechase, with what results the public can best imagine. The fun is hilarious in character, and is maintained.without a drop until everybody's: love affair, is set right. One may expect those who see this musical comedy at this time nest week to shape his thoughts, perhaps his voice, something after this fashion: : .>'-' , . '■''■■/:: ' "Oh, the Sandow, Saridow. girl, ■-;- i ■ She is tall and neat and supple, : : And compares with any couple /" . ..... Of other girls. -.-■:. ■■; , •■' Oh, the Sandow, Sandbw girl, r '■.-• : , : : You don't need the police' .■:■ • ,; ;■.. If your wife or your niece / -...•■•. . :; '..■ Is a.'Sandow. girl." " ■..< .'. ■ :'■'■■■,.:'[■,. "The Dawn of To-Morrow." . Such is the attractive title of: a three-act play written by, Mrs. Francis Hodgson Burnett (of "Little Lord, Fauntleroy": fame), which has been produced in New York with Miss Eleanor Robson in the leading , part. Of the play. a New : York paper writes :— "It is a- kindly can believe that virtue can be- free and; triumphant in an atmosphere- of distressing want and vice, that the of the ,'lark .is. in the throat, of the ■unfed, .and. that, all- the. decencies of life come from .within, and- not fromV without. Mrs..Hodgson Burnett has croated a Cinderella of the slums- who tepresonfcs this cheerful philosophy. ? When Glad, the maid of the tenements,.-is/without a breakfast, ■ sho gets it in due season by wishing forit. Her hopes are all righteous hopes;:and keep her unconcerned. r As the gray fog lifts and, reveals a square in tho tenement .district on the East Side in London, after some:commotion of tho kind to bo expected; among l thieves and unfortunates of* thoquarter,. a bundle -of rags moves, and presently comes tho figure that is to rule the play, and. brings us under the sway of. kindly feeling .toward alti men: It is Glad. In. the background a -sombre figurois leaning at. the corner of- the house; a>pistol clutched in his.hand, ready to put an end to his unhappy existence. Vfo had seen this man, Sir Oliver Holt, in. the opening act'a miserable misanthrope, "whom the doctors, at a consultation, had decreed incurable. One of the doctors had suggested mental healing, or let us say; Christian .Science; as a possible'hope for liis restoration to sanity, contentment, and health. But he literally drives them from his'presence, and, summoning his servant, he has brought to him an old suit of clothes and a pistol, determined, to , make his way to the most squalid quarters on the East , Side, and there commit suicide, unknown and unhonoured, among tho unhappy of the great city. From the moment he meets Glad a new influence comes into his life. Glad saves a wife from a beating by her brutal husband. They are without, fowl, and tho' miserable ■ rich -man's sympathies begin, to stir when Glad suggests that coffee and rolls bo; supplied. ':' This '■ is done. He gives Glad a gold coin, and one of the thieves snatches it from her, hand. :Sir Oliver joins'in the chaso and returns with the coin. 'He has had a vivifyng and healthful experience. He follows;her.to her attic room .and learns there tho story. of her life arid that of her lover, a thief because he had never, had, a chance. Glad expounds her philosophy from time to time in her' cockney dialect, and' finally her compelling' faith .and love bring about a change in Sir Oliver. I ,' ;N.Otes.'- ' ■ .'■■'■ ;.' ;■■ ;; ! / ;.' : ; '' : -...'■ Tho melodrama' "Lured to London" ie underlined for production at the Theatre" Royal this ovenihg by the Edwin Geach Dramatic Oompany,'-There is said to bo ample scope for good dramatio acting, and plenty of sensation and healthy sentiment in the play. A ; success has been achieved in Sydney by Meynell and Gunn's New English Dramatic Oompany, in Henry Arthur Jones's masterpiece, VThe. •Hypocrites."... The "Daily Telegraph," referring to tho production, says: '." 'The Hypocrites' was received with tremendeus enthusiasm.. It was in every way a great performance, The stagecraft is masterly, Ihe sex problem, vitally concernod in the play, is handled with reticence, and the produotieri must be recognised , as a serious oontributien to the drama of the day. The success of the evening, was made by Mr. Harconrt Beatty and the new engenue. Miss Gladys Harvey, the former as the courageous ourate, the other as the deceived girl. 'The Hypocrites' certainly may be aptly described as 'a play that hits hard. , " Allthe papers are most eulogistic in their notices of the play. . . ' .

Criticism has nothing to do with pedagogics, and it is a question whether young players who are still sen-ing, or perhaps only just beginning their apprenticeship, should get '.'press notices." For criticism, in the theatre as elsewhero, is properly the valuation of pleasures,' without consideration of extenuating circumstances. It niquircs'whether the performance is good or less good— that is to say,-what degree and kind of pleasure it gives—not whether tho performers are'lads and girls of more or less promise who may by and by, become accomplished artiste.—"Times," London. '

On May 3 a Moynoll and Gunn Dramatic Company, newly constituted, will.commence a soasou at the Opera House hi "Two Little Sailor Boys," a melodrama by Walter Howard, writer, of "The Midnight Wedding," The personnel of tho company includes Mr. J. ' B.' Atholwood, the fine character actor, Mr. Herbert 'Bentley (late of the Julius Knight Company), Mr. A, Neville; Mr. L. de Chateau, Misses Boatrico Holloway, .Mabel llussell, Alice Deorwyn, Nellie Floranco., and Lilian Movers. 'Such a , company should-put up a'verj'oreditaUo BorJonnanoe. ..