THE THEATRE.

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2558, 4 September 1915, Page 13

THE THEATRE.

fßx Sti.vics.] The World's a tlieatie; tho Earth a stage.—Hcywood. "Fun on the Brfetol." Wednesday next will seo the first appearance in i\ T ew Zealand of Mr. George Stephenson's Musical Comedy Company playing "Fun on the Bristol," made immortal by tho late John I l '. Sheridan, who at one time used to put on this very amusing farce in styla, but towards the close of his. career he was not so particular as to tho personnel of liis company; and the show suffered accordingly. It is so often the case where actor-managers strike a money spinner. The Stephenson Company will have as its Widow O'Brien Mr. Frank Hawthorn, whose ' impersonations of clever actors and in particular the late Mr. Sheridan, wero extremely good, as were also those of his brother, tho late Mr.' Canlen Wilson. .Mr. Hawthorn is the best FJiiellen in "Henry V" that lean remember, and lis has many good character performances to recommend him to Wellington playgoers.. The rest of the company will bs judged in their pevftrmjnoes in "Fun on tlio Bristol," as most of the names are strange .to the ear. A New Comedian. A new comedian to appear in Australia tinder the management of J. C. Williamson, Ltd., is Shep Camp, an actor with a lino record in America in many uotable comedy successes. Mr. Camp achieved one of the biggest hits in that typically American' production ''The Round Up," and in "The Travelling Salesman," in which he played tho title role throughout the States. In this comedy he will; be seen in Adelaide shortly, after a brief season in Brisbane, where he made his first_bow to an Australian audience after nis arrival from America. Mr. Camp has probably been engaged to fill the gap left by the exit of Mr. Fred. Niblo—another argument in"favour; of the, .AmericanRation of the Australian stage.; Alas! The Combination Play. The latest development in stage work ill/America is tho play that combines lanematograph with'scenes 6poken aiidacted by real players. Broadway has put ths hallmark,oil a play called "The Alien," an extension of a music-hall sketch, entitled "The Sign of the Kose,' which made tho name' and fortune of Mr. George Beban (tho creator of "The Alien," and its chief actor); To go further back still, "The Sign of the ltosc" is a modern American adaptation 'of that very .well-known .'' monologue, ■ "Tho Italian, and the' Hose," last recited hero by Miss Isabelle D'Armond' with the Tivoli Follies. "The Alien" opens with nine reels of film, which brings the'story to a crucial point, at which, there is a sudden darkness in the _ theatre, tho curtain ascends, disclosing the same players in. the same scene 'exactly as . flashed but by the screen, but this time in the flesh. \ The effect was startling and' novel. Mr. Beban; who plays Pietro, the dago subway digger, states that the possibilities of tho hew. type of combination drama are "enormous—they had the advantages of both ..the screen and ..the stage, and they w§ro able .to depict scenes, particularly exterior scenes,, with much .greater wuth by tho aid of tho camera, ■which., could work where'ver there was light, whilst those scenes in which dialogue was almost a necessity could be acted by the same people as appear in the picture. He also emphasised tho . point .that the public were always moro or. less interested in people that appear on the screen, and in the combination, play.they are able to seo them both on the screen,'and 1 in the flesh at tho one sitting:''' '""" ! All In tho Postscript. . Jimiiiy-. Britt,..the ex-champion lightweight boxer of tho world, who is appearing under the M'lntosh management at the Tivoli Theatre, tells a lot of good stories in a quiet effective manner, which like his style of flighting never obtrudes but always gets there. Lately he has been telling war stories with tho' element of humour ■ conspicuous. His very latest, comes from the Eastern theatre of ivar. A Russian Jew soldier has beciv taken prisoner by the Ger-. i mans, ! and. as lie. knows perfectly well i that all correspondence .is. read by thoguard, and if thought to be sufficiently suspicious is banded over to the officer commanding,.'.the Jew wrote to his mother iii the following strain :—"Dear mother, —Have been captured by tho Germans, : Everything is lovely—tlio food is fine,_ the beds aro good; in fact,, everything is- just like home. The Germans are such nice people. I do. love them." Then followed the postscript— "I forgot to .mention that brother Abe was shot this morning for complaining.'' Paris'' Re-awakens. Paris.is recovering theatrically. The picture theatres were the first to reopen, and now tho light-hearted, but. fervently patriotic singers and dancers aro moving forward into the limelight after oiie of the longest, "blacks" known to the Parisian stage. Fursy has invented fresh, invectives ,to hurl at the hated Bochcs, and Marguerite Deval bathes' her voice in tears when she .sings Michel Carre's "Songs of Alsace." The wartime rerae has a genro of its own and flourishes everywhere. ' Dance, draiha, vaudeville, pantomime, a little operette, a little , heroism, military marches and reminiscences of the_ tango, with the strains' of. tho "Marseillaise" playing hide and seek'with the orchestral scorc. A little of everything to please and nothing to offend even the most fastidious taste. ' Journalism applied to stage spectacles brings the revues- up-to-date from day to day. A scene representing a Taube over Paris was replaced by a Zeppelin » few hours after the big gas bag floated towards the Ville Lumiere. . Is thero any city in the world excepting Paris which'could'mock and laugh with a powerful enemy ninety minutes' automobile ride from its heart? . Encouraged by the success of the music-halls, the Odeon, Porte Saint Martin,. Ambigu, Chatelet, Vaudeville, and Grand Guignol put out notices of shows famous in their respective repertoires'. The Comedie Francaise hoisted its flag and mobilised the works, of. Corneille, Racine, Marivaux, .Victor Hugo, Miisset, and Moliere. Between two-acts of comedy or tragedy a patriotic sandwich is provided, which is always to the taste of the audience. Bernhardt the Immortal, On September 20 Sara Bernhardt will begin another tour of the United States at tho now Amsterdam Theatre, New York. At the beginning of tlip pre--sent ..year tho. great French actress had the misfortune to lose, one of her legs by amputation, but nothing daunted, she is to continue to exploit her histrionic powers with tho aid of an artificial member. Her repertoire for the tour will be a conspicuously gloomy 0110. Tile plays sho has selected for performance will be "Joanne Dore," by Tristan Bernard; "Madame X."-; Victor Hugo's "Lucretia Borgia," • "Camille," "Phedro," "Tho Death of Tintagiles" (a creepy playlet by Maeterlinck), and "Resurrection," by Bataille. Ibsen's gloomy play, "Ghosts," is being shown in picture form in Melbourne.