THE PRINCESS’S DROP-SCENE.

Evening Star, Issue 4204, 17 August 1876, Page 3

THE PRINCESS’S DROP-SCENE.

To the Editor.

Ski, —I would preface the remarks I am about to make by stating that I am a sincere admirer of the drama, and that during the engagement of those talented artists Mr and Mrs Lingard, at the Princess’s Theatre, I take much pleasure in witnessing their charming performances, assisted by the moat excellent company Mr Hoskins has collected together. Now, such being the case, I ask, Mr Editor, why, oh! why shouldmy innocentenjoymentbe so ruthlessly marred by that gross burlesque upon art—that glaring outrage upon the intelligence and feelings of civilised beings—the “drop scene ?” What in the name of all that’s good is this conglomeration of distorted human forms and decayed habitations intended to represent? I do not assume myself any deep-read knowledge of classics; but did Greeks or Romans or other antique nations in their private life usually assume the postures depicted hereon, and were these illustrious individuals of former days constructed upon the same principle as men of the present day ? If so, I should like to be informed —amongst other things—upon what portion of the human frame does the gentleman in scarlet apparel on the right of the scene support his manly form? • T fancy the Fakir of Oulu is not a “ sarkumstance ” here. And, again, has it ever been handed down to posterity as an undeniable fact, that the arms of the ladies of those “flowery days” branched from'the vicinity of their ears, instead of the usual portion of the

body, as it jappeara they are repreaeatad to do, in the first group of figures in the “ Wilderness” or “ Garden” scene ? Truly I think the “ gods” in Dunedin are x long-suffering and much enduring race. This illustration of the imperfections of the ‘mman species is calculated entirely to upset ■be elevating influence of the legitimate drama, falling pall-like, as it does, upon the icene after a hearty outburst of laughter at tfuttermari Middewick's comicalities. Truly, “in the midst of plenty do wo starve.” '■’Vis ere, over the wide expanse of the globe, aas Nature more liberally endowed any spot more than Dunedin with subjects for a dropaoene ? Let anyone proceed seaward on either side of our harbor, if only a few short miles, and I shall lay long odds lie will witness peeps of coast scenery seldom surpassed in the Southern Hemisphere, which, if put on canvas, would prove a subject for un?ndiug admiration as a stage appointment. Let the proprietors remember that a “thing of beauty is a joy for ever ” —a fact they must, I fear, have sadly forgotten in the production of the artistic effort now adorning the scene. If a copy of one of these views is not procurable, 1 would venture to suggest a c|py of one of the numerous lovely scenes our local photographers have reproduced from the West Coast. I am, &c., _ , Eye-sore, Dunedin, August 14.