MRS. BEATRICE DAY.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 672, 24 November 1909, Page 4

MRS. BEATRICE DAY.

"" r AN INTERVIEW. ■> ' Tns Dominion fepTebentntive who called on ' Miss Bcatnco Day at tha, Grand Hotels found f ler prepanng to leave for a visit of several ' days to fnendf in Wellington, but sho found , ► \hmo for a talk about her work and its )»• , "" i "If you want tho beginning of all things,' she Said, "I nas born and brought up in the country, miles from any other habitation, but, .as we were twelve, wo were not often dull, 'My father was what used to bo called in ,"■ ' those daya a gentleman-farmer They are out <■ ' 'of date now I think you call them squatters. He was very strict, and used the whip over >thfl eldest, but melted into smiles over the last misohievous half-dozen Who would not '' with six pairs 'of impish eyes darting defiance k iat his assumed seventy? He was the handisomest man in the county of Essex, stood six i tfect thTee inches, and was the best shot over ...four oounticfc * i' " "No, I did not begin \ery young, but most i , 'of us begin to act from the cradle upwards. I , did many things which later on induced my ' friends—not relatives—to think that I should , ' succeed 'as an actress. At that time I had 1 v s (Only seen a gircus at a country fair I was more often to be seen in my brother's clothes i than in my own I hated petticoats They got m the way of climbing and jumping, to ' ' say nothing of getting across tho river by means of a floating 1 plank One was not al i. ways onitho eafo side. ' ''I'out loose from tutelago at-fourtoen, and ' _, my studies were continued under tho guidance I J (of a married 6istcr, whom I requested to ' toach me all sho knew about house-keeping and French—when she had time I had so much pride in her knowledgo of tho former, and was an apt pupil, but had not so much confidence in her French, and mado myself r' 1 unpleasantly truthful In my ignorance nnd * narrowness,, I condemned all this lmporfection, and gavo myself an equil share of con'domnation I havo not grown lenient towards II t myself since then. It was during this period of x \ my 1 learning that' I did much in organising l concerts for tho poor in tho London slums, for when I retired 4 from school my house was in (London, and my friends thought I ought to i go on the stage. My relation'! thought other- ' , wise, and 4 had no though.! 1 of it at all, even. , after I had played several dsmcstic and simple *- ~ parts in amateur theatricals. It was at ono i of those, that I,first was acquainted with ' "Olivia," which was to be one of my big 6UC ' ( * cesse9 many years after. i'', Then the hard rap of necessity knocked at i ,the door,'and I had to decido for myself what my work>was to bo. I had no knowledgo ol jj» sijage vworki or professional people, and my '(■; ' mind was * torn between two occupations— '( nurse or aotress, 'Yes, there 13 a (treat simiV ' ./Jffaty"- Tn6 former is by far the mast; strenuj 'j 'bis', though wo are often called upon to hido $>, our tragedies undor tho mask of comedy. 1 , have never failed. to, keep up an interest in ' i hospital work, and havo many nurse fnendb I scorned the idea of introductions, and nan 1 1 determined, when once' my mind was mado 1 up, to take,my chance. My first manager was <- , liutland Barnngton, who torsook Gilbert and Sulluan opera for drama. The venture was >' , u not a financial success, and he went back to his early lovo. I went back to {ho country, but, before that took placo, I had mado 'my < idobut before a London audience—ono of tho moat critical ind difficult of audiences—siuco »it was at the Lyno Clubhand the entertainment began at 130 am, when mo6t people were thinking of cosy bods and happy dreamß, 1 iMany of tho audience were professionals, who cam? on ,after their own performances. It 1 / ' , was from a nephew of Harrison Ainsworth I got my first real encouragement I still blcsi him for tho kind littlo word written and 6ent " to my dressing room-which meant so much to me. A little later I had tho luck to bo 1' ( with Mr." John Haro (now Sir John), Mr. Beerbolm Tree (now Sir Herbert), Mr Willie Idouin, and my last London engagement was Mr. Weedon Grossmith, as his leading \ t lady Then an offer to go to South Africa , ' . during tho war tonipted me, and resulted in -' ' an eight years' engagement as tho leading lady J tliere And in thii country I was associated with the lato Mr, Herbert Fleming and Eo bert Brough I 1 mutt not 1 forget that I weut*thtough the mill, doing nearly five years provincial work with Mr. Charles Garthorno / ■ (tho famous .Mrs. Kendal's brother), , |x , ', J'count myself rich in managers—eight up to the present No, my list ot parts would , bo too long to enumerate, but it will give you ' some idea of work in South Africa when I ~ 6tato that wo played, in Bloemfontem, forty , four plays in forty weeks. Thcso included s scones from Shakespeare, modern comedy, and wfelodrann I havo had my own company in T ( tho suburbs of London, plaung the romantic j. and historical play, "Tho White Queen" | ' Yes,>l havo many 1 plans for thu future, bui ypu know tho old provorb, "Man propose [ J etc, "but I hope it is quito possiblo to bt L » B £ on a ßain in tho society and comedy dramathat first introduced mo to the \ustralian ant ! Sew Zealand audiences, llus country like to retain first impressions, and, with tho ex t ' 'cepliqn of "Quality Strcot," Z< haro mado mi greatest successes in tho modom plays Ms I work with Mr. Julius Knight's Company hai L 1 been most pleasant and instructive, for w< I ' ar'o none of us too old to learn