“LIVE CHILDREN.”

Evening Star, Issue 15187, 19 May 1913, Page 7

“LIVE CHILDREN.”

BEFORE AND BEHIND THE CURTAIN. “ Live children! Live children! Gome and look at the little live children.” This exclamation of the little children on the entry of Tylty! and Mjrtyl to the Kingdom of the Future at once came to the mind when I strolled theatrewards on Saturday afternoon The streets were full of children, ‘‘little live children,” arriving from north, south, cast, and west on foot, in tram, motor car, and cab. The stream converged in Crawford street, and made straight for the building that bore the emblem of the Blue Bird. Of all ages, all sizes, and nil stations in life, they all wore tho same expectant look. There were boys and girls who had been looking forward for weeks and months to the coming of ‘The Blue Bird,' and they knew the play by heart. Others there were who came with vivid memories of former pantomimes and frequent visits to the pictures, dimly conscious they were about to see something quite - new. The ceaseless stream of children speclily blocked the entrances to pit. stalls, anti" dress circle, and the theatre officials had a busy half-hour marshalling all to their places. There was a “ crocodile ” of orpnanage children, patiently waiting their turn, lor the management had kindly invited a couple of hundred of these homeless little tots to see Maeterlinck's fairy play, it was a treat that will shed an extra ray of brightness into many of these little fatherless and motherless lives, and among that great audience there were no more attentive auditors than these little orphans, transported for the nonce into the magic realm of fairyland. It was a lovely crowd, when shortly before 2 o’clock room had been with difficulty found for all, not one boy or girl being sent disappointed away. There is one advantage with the little ones; they can be packed in, and so far from grumbling they rather’ enjoy the process. The theatre viewed from behind the curtain was a sea of children’s fates —children in the stalls, children in the pit, and children in the circle. Here and there were fathers and mothers, teachers’and guardians., but for the most part it was a mass of children, bubbling with excitement, overflowing with enthusiasm, with dilticulty suppressing their feelings until that supreme moment when the curtain first goes up. Babies were there sucking their thumbs in stolid content, and enlarging their ideas of the world into which they had so recently come. Little toddlers were there in abundance, restless' in their excitement and eagerly waiting for something to happen. There was a sprinkling of boys, who, with a superior air, contemplated the beginning of what they half expected to be a “baby show ” j whilst many little girls, supremely conscious of wearing their “party’ frocks, shook their heads and their hair, smoothed down their dresses, and shrugged their dimpled little shoulders in the most approved fashion. If before the curtain all was bustle and excitement, behind the scenes all was order and calm. The Dog and the Cat were enaaeed in friendly conversation, whilst Fire “and Water were evidently getting up steam. Indeed, there was such a general air of satisfaction and contentment with the management that tbs Hours, several of whom were strolling leisurely about, evinced no disposition whatever to “strike.” It was evident that if the floor of the house and the gallery was filled with “live chil dren.” the stage was also occupied by “live children” of another sorb. And the meaning of the matinee at once struck home, as it was realised that the children in the audience were to be amused and instructed by the children on the stage. It was the children’s hour. For Once the parent and the teacher were in the shade. The children were triumphant both before and behind the curtain. A brief conversation with the stage director and producer of the play (Mr H. Lister Gilbert) was enough to force the conviction that Maeterlinck’s masterpiece is in safe hands. Mr Gilbert is a great believer in the creation of the right atmosphere, and, having created it, its strict preservation. There are scenes and sentences m ‘ The Blue Bird’ which give opportunity to the actor to earn a cheap laugh at the expense of the composes evident intention. M> Gilbert ; s continually on tho watch to nip

anything of this kind promptly in the bud. “ Yon may take liberties with a pantomime,” he remarked, “ but not with Maeterlinck.” And the delicacy of restraint, which is to marked a feature of tide pro-

duction, is zealously cared for by this con.

caicntious stage director. Throughout the performance he is constantly _on thequi viri, criticising any flow in the lighting, Z& which 6o ranch depends, scrutinising the “ business ” of each performer, and keeping his hand tightly on every one of the mrdtii’arous factors that go to make the complete whole. Yet in the midst of his complex and continuous duties he has always a smile and an answer to the frequent queries which the children perpetually address to him. ' It was delightful to notice the absolute understanding existing between Mr Gilbert and the children, who so intelligently play their parts, and the stage director could not find words to praise too highly the children in' the company. “Their whole hearts are in the play,” he declared, “ and one little word of reproof is enough to send them cobbing to their dressing rooms. They are clever, and willing, and so easy to manage.” The orchestra has commenced the overture. The house lights are switched off,

and the theatre is enveloped in that pitch darkness which so strongly helps to produce the desired impression of unreality and. dreamland. The children who have come to see the play appreciate the darkness, and applaud accordingly. They arc entranced by the opening scene ; the swiftness with which Tyltyl and Mytyl at the

fairy’s bidding don their clothes excites universal admiration; and the transformation, when Tyltyl turns the diamond and everything in the cottage comes to life, quite takes away their breath. The appearance of Light is greeted with rapture, and the antics of the Cat and the Dog elicit applause at every encounter. A glance at the faces of the children through a slit in the curtain at the end of every act is

proof convincing that ‘ The Bluo Bird ’ will be for ever enshrined, in the memories of youthful Dunedin—a memory which the badges so eagerly competed for will help to keep green. As the play goes on the children’s faces grow a shade thoughtful, and there is a suspicion of dampness about some eyes, recalling Tyltyl’* answer to the Child’s

question in the Kingdom of the Future: “I have not been crying; it is the fault of that Blue. . . . But if I had cried it ■would be the same thing.” The visit to the Land of Memory, the forest scene, the beautiful vision of the children waiting to be born, and the issue of the weird occupants from the opened doors in the Palace of Night evidently started a train of thought in young minds that will bring forth fruit in days to come. Thus it was a thoughtful rather than an exuberant crowd of children that overflowed the pavements and made its way to tho Post Office shortly before 5 o’clock. It may be, as one sage individual remarked, that many of the children would rather have been to a pantomime- I —that form of entertainment giving opportunity for much loud and raucous laughter—but what about the after-effect. The modern form of pantomime, with its vulgarity and its double entendres, can scarcely be considered suitable nourishment for the child mind. Whereas tho delicate fancies of M. Maeterlinck, inciting to thoughts about the mysteries of life, and stimulating the imagination to search after the soul of things, can l not but be beneficial to every child who witnessed the Blue Bird. • Moreover, there is another consideration which should weigh with all who look hopefully to the elevation of the-stage and its emergence out of a cheap sensationalism and a worse sensualism into a mighty educational factor. Children brought up to appreciate fairy plays, such as ‘The Blue Bird’ and 'Peter Pan/ will as they grow up demand and insist upon having the best dramatic, effort, that theatrical enterprise, coupled with literary and musical genius’ N \ can give. To this end the thanks of the are due to Mr J. C. Williamson and his coadjutors for giving the children of Dunedin this golden oppor"tunity of seeing ‘ TKe Blue Bird,’ A.H.G.