LOCAL THEATRICALS

Evening Post, Volume CXVI, Issue 85, 7 October 1933, Page 7

LOCAL THEATRICALS

EAELY FOUNDATION

THE FIRST PERFORMANCES

(Writted for "The Post" by A.C.X.) Of all the various kinds of entertainment offered to the public of today, it is fairly safe to say that it is the cinema that attracts tho greatest number of spectators. In modern Wellington, indeed, tho cinema provides practically tho only kind of theatrical amusement available. Up to five or six years ago we were occasionally favoured by visits from touring Australian companies which gave us plays, pantomime, and musical comedy. These visits, all too few even iii those days, have now become even rarer still. At present the speaking stage in Now Zealand is eclipsed, probably not permanently, by the talking films. The advent of talking films, however, has had one apparently strange and yet natural effect. AVhen the public's source of supply is cut off, it is compelled either to find new' sources, or supply its own wants. Now, everybody loves a show; mankind abounds in potential actors. If one can no longer go and see actors in a theatre, one must turn actor oneself, hence tho fillip given to amateur repertory theatres in recent years. It is a' curious reflection that present conditions have brought the theatre in Wellington to a position analogous to that in which it was ninety years ago. Then, as now, there were no visiting companies, and stage acting was in the hands of well-intentioned amateurs. If material and intellectual conditions in the AVellington of 1843 were vastly different from what they are now, it is the same fundamental stimulus that served to urge the colonist amateur of those early times and the more enlightened amateur of today to some kind of dramatic activity and expression. This article is designed to go back to the earliest theatrical adventures in AVellington, and to trace the evolution and development of theatrical enterprise until it assumed the form with which we are, or used to be, familiar. AN EARLY BEGINNING. On Jarfuary 22 this year Wellington celebrated its nj(nety-third birthdayl. On May 11, 1843, a little more than three years after the foundation of the settlement, were given the first stage performances in AVellington. The previous year a kind of peep-show had been started by a Mr. J. Aitchison in the South Sea Hotel, Lambton Quay. It consisted of "a series of elegant optical delusions, also a panoramic view of the recent highly interesting and scientific discoveries of Captains Boss and Crosier, of the Antarctic regions, copied from the drawing of Mr. "Davis, draftsman of the Terror, one of the survey ships, and corrected by that gentleman." This "public amusement" was provided weekly at 6.30 on Wednesday evenings, beginning on August 10.1842, for the consideration of one shilling, children under ten half-price. This and such public meetings as Mr. E. D. Hanson's three lectures on "The Principles of Colonisation," delivered in December, 1842, were apparently the only kind of public amusements that existed. In the "Now Zealand Colonist and Port Nicholson Advertiser" of May 9, 1843, appeared an announcement that on Thursday evening would be presented "the favourite drama of 'A Ghost in Spito of Himself,' a 'variety of singing and recitations,' the whole performance to conclude with the fivreo 'The Village Lawyer." Doors were to be opened at 7, tho show commencing at 7.30. Tho prices charged were '2s and Is for front and back seats respectively. These early performances took place at tho AVellington Saloon. This, the first theatre in AVellington, adjoined tho Ship Hotel, Manners Street, visible in some of the early prints of Wellington. Tho site of the Ship, according to Mr. L. E. Ward's "Early Wellington," is that of the present Bogent Cafe. PIONEER PRODUCER. The first attempts at play production were duo to the-initiative of Mr. J. H. Marriott, who continued for several years to be the mainstay of theatrical enterprise in Wellington. His efforts were richly rewarded. The theatre, according to the "New Zealand Gazette and Wellington Spectator," was crowded, and between two and three hundred peoplo had to be refused admission. "The boxes were filled by the principal aldermen with their fair friends" (reports the "Gazette" in its most gallant manner), "whose beaming eyes eclipsed in brightness the chandelier, and threw its light far into- the shade." Commenting upon the performance, the "Gazette" continues: "Though the actors did not equal' the great stars of tho'other hemisphere, still, for a place at the Antipodes, it was fair; and we trust with Mr. Marriott, who gave a neat speech at the conclusion, that the British racoon the southern world will support tho drama, equally as well as tlieir countrymen do in the northern." After confessing its complete ignorance of the stage, it goes on to suggest that singing should be substituted for the recitations in the interval between tho two plays. The performance had been somewhat hampered by tho sraallness of the stage, but it was hinted that the proprietors were contemplating tho erection of a larger building. "The audience," adds the *af Gazette," "was remarkably quiet and orderly, and everything was conducted in a highly becoming manner." FIRST ACTORS AND FIRST AUDIENCES. Such was the success of the first play performed in Wellington that at the request of several who were unable to gain admission on the first night, tho. performance was repeated on the following Thursday, May 18, 1843. -The distasteful recitations disappeared from the, programme in favour of several songs and duets. In spite of another meeting on the same evening, the saloon was again crowded. Tho four roles in "A Ghost in Spite of Himself" were played by Mr. Marriott, Mr. Hardeman, Mr. Marshall, and Mrs. Baker. Tho first two seem to have been tho more important part of tho company. Mr. Hardeman is probably the tailor and draper of Lambton Quay whose advertisements appear in the early Wellington papers. Mr. Marriott had arrived in the colony in 1842 on board tho Thomas Sparkes. By trado he was an engraver; Mr. Ward's '^'Early Wellington'^reproduces a number of his'engravings' that were sent Some to tho "Illustrated London News." In addition to his professional duties, the same versatile 'Mr. Marriott appears in various , contemporary records as secretary to the Britannic Oddfellows, actor, producer, manager, singer, scene-painter, and dancing master. :

In accordance with their promises of fresh plays and new scenery, the company announced for May 25 and 29, a new drama entitled "Crossing the Line," and a farce "The Tinker, the Tailor, the Soldier, the Sailor," destined to remain a favourite with Wellington audiences for a long time. But a larrikin element had already appeared among the audiences of the Wellington Saloon. Its objectionable behaviour was apparently not unconnected with the convenient proximity of the Ship Hotel. Tho "Gazette," after giving the actors great credit for their efforts to amuso tho audience, goes on to say that "a more disgraceful scene as re'gardg Ihtj •gonduct pg a great jDortioa,1

of tlio audience who occupied.what arc callo/l the front scats, we never witnessed in any public exhibition- from Whitcohapclto Duck Lane. The strongest possible editorial ■ objection . was raised to permitting "the boisterous uproar of the taproom" to disturb amusements where persons of all ages and both sexes met • together. The Magistrates were urged "by a. proper and timely interference to protect the respectable portion of the community in the enjoyment of a rational source of amusement." PEACE RESTORED. The- Magistrates apx^arently did intervene, and to good effect; for the "Gazette", was able to report that at the following .performance the acting "was really excellent, and the audience quite the reverse of the preceding evening." In the meantime, it had been decided to proceed with the- construction of a new theatre. .The following Thursday and Saturday (June 1 and 3, 1843.) .were announced as the, last nights in the old hall. What plays were given on this occasion does not appear. In any ease the theatre had been introduced to Wellington, and the management had been successful ..enough to feel justified in launching out more independently by ■ building a theatre of its own, a little further removed if possible from the too-convenient neighbourhood of the Ship-Hotel's taproom.

The "Colonist" hopefully and optimistically announced that the new. premises would be completed in a month or sis weeks' time. It paid a tribute to the management of the old theatre, and promised better accommodation for the public and more favourable conditions for performances in the new.