Children in Theatres.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 933, 17 January 1890, Page 4

Children in Theatres.

Writing to some of the London papers, Mrs Bancroft says : —My experience of our theatres is that children are there so petted and made much of, so coddled aid cared for, that when the run of a play in which they have been, employed comes to an end, the little creatures often cry bitterly at the thought of being taken away, probably in their hearts dreading a return to squalor, neglect, ior rough treatment. I have seen such children kindly cared for in various ways, and have known the poverty of their parents relieved by subscriptions, and in many cases weekly allowances from very meagre purses, often when the money could be ill spared. I have also known actresses to teaoh some of these children, so that by the time their term of servioe ended they have been able to spell and read fairly well, surely a comparison to many neglected ones outside the playhouse. The only matter in my opinion to be regretted in connection with the engagement of humble children for pantomimes or occasional productions is their having often to return to gutter acquaintances and gutter morals. What is more touching on the stage than the prattle of a clever child ? What more refining to itself ? If none of tender yeara are allowed to act, what will become of King Richard and the Princes in the Tower, of Charles 1. without his boy and girl, or where will be tha sorrows of poor Triplet if robbed of his starving little ones, and will not dozens of other delightful p'ays be lost to the public ? As one who has been a ' stage child ' herself, and who well remembers the value of her little earnings, let me plead for those now in a like position, for I will hope that my voioe may be regarded in some way as that of an expert.