APILL FOR MR GEORGE DIRRELL.

Otago Witness, Issue 2106, 5 July 1894, Page 37

APILL FOR MR GEORGE DIRRELL.

(Witness San Fiancisco Correspondent )

The persistence with which New Zealand journals inflict upon their readers the opinions of chance travellers and others upon the contemporary life of the people of this country is extraordinary. If a person comes from the colony to the United States his views — invariably worthless— upon men and things find ready admission to the press, or, when a person flits across this continent to the colony, he is waited upon for an interview. The result is, as I have once or twice ventured to observe, a hotch-potch of utterly unreliable information.

I came across the narration of an interview, the other day, had with Mr George Darrell. This gentleman was described as an "authoractor "—a description open to serious question — and his views upon theatrical matters in the United States given at length. Coming from such a source any outsider would be pardoned for accepting his views as trustworthy. As a matter of fact they are distinctly — well, misleading. Here in one assertion : —

"Those artists and the proprietors of the attractions decline to visit Australia and New Zealand for the main reason that the prices of admission are so ridiculously low. One example will suffice for many. I made an offer to a lady whom I think to be the best actress now playiug in the States. After discussing terms I told her the ruling rater, and she replied word for word as follows :— • Your people must either be very poor or very mean. Why should I travel thousands of miles to play to 4s, 2s 6d, and Is, when I oan remain hcie and visit scores of cities, and charge 6s, 4s, and 2s ? ' Why, indeed P I could not answer the question, so the negotiaii n fell through."

What are tbe fads? Simply these : The prices for adtuhsion to oar best theatres arelower, and the accommodation infinitoly superior than are to be found in New Zealand. I know little about Australia, so will confine my denial of Mr George Darrell to the state of affairs in your colony. The prices' at the Baldwin — our best theatre — Stockwell's, the California, and Bush street are 6s (in two only), 4s, 3s, 2s, Is 6d, and Is. At the Tivoli the prices are Is and 2s ; at the Grand Opera House, Za, 2t», Is, and sd, whilst at the other theatres, where plays of the Darrell stamp would be played, the prices are sd, Is, Is 6d, and, of course, a few extra-priced ones if desired. Further, the accommodation is superior. Fcr Is 6d you can book your seat a week in advance, if necessary, ar« shown to your seat by an attendant, handed a programme, and find puch seat to be a velvet cushioned chair with, in some case 3 , a hat rack and stick or umbrella convenience. Modjeska plays to prices such at the above, and I hare reason to believe the charges in this city, owing to its distance from the East and the higher average of wages ruling, are in excess of those charged elsewhere.

Mr Darrell's lament over the decadence of the stage is, remembering the number of dismal failures this season in London, somewhat out of place. He is -pained because "formerly Booth, Barrett, Mary Anderson, Fanny Davenport, and others of that ilk presented the classic and legitimate drama with most satisfactory results." Now, seeiDg that Booth aDd Barrett are both gone to a world where theatricals are probably not wanted, it is difficult to imagine how they can any longer present the legitimate. Mary Anderson is not in the country, and Fanny Davenporb was playing to large houses in this city at above prices a few weeks ago.

The condemnation of the people here for failing to flock to Henry Pettitt's " A Woman's Revenge" is a high compliment to the intelligence of the American theatre-goer ; while, at the Bame time, it enables us to approximate Mr DarrelPs standing as an "auHnr-;«ctor. '