THE DRAMA.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XXXV, Issue 11231, 21 March 1908, Page 2 (Supplement)

THE DRAMA.

• , •* : MR J. C. WILLIAMSON'S IMPRESSIONS/ * :" . • Interviewed in Melbourne, Mr J. C. Williamson told a representative of the Age that, he had spent most of his time in London and the American cities, but had also been as far west as the Mississippi river, and as . far into the interior of Europe as Austria and Hungary. He had seen everything that to be seen in London, Paris, New Y/)rk. • and Chicago — that was to say, as far .as his time allowed. Speaking of Tettra- j zini, the new star in the musical finn^inent, he mentioned the interesting fiacfc that " lie had opened preliminary nego.T tiations for her appearance in Jit some later date. At prese'nt' shells booked several years ahead, and at hlt most fabulous, rates. Of dramatic authors, Mr Williamson saw a- good deal of Pinero, Henry ; Arthur Jones, Barrie, Bernstein, and others who are mainly responsible for keeping alight the torch of dramatic inspiration. Bernstein is the newly risen French playwright, whose strong piece of work, "L e Voleur" ("The Thief"), has carried him at a bound into the very foremost place in his country, Rostand and Sardou not excepted. Of the Englishmen, there is no one in quite such request. as Barrie. Personally, Mr Williamson found him to be. quaint, rather "retiring,, of the type known* as "literary," but extremely interesting as a conversationalist. Being in the position 'of dictating liis own terms, Barrie is insistent that no actor or actress of whom lie. does not approve shall play the leading part ——at any rate, at the. outset — in pne'bf -his plays. This being the case.^tho uAstralian actor-mana.ger regards it as highly satisfactory that Miss Tittel Brune — who is to open in Melbourne in "Peter Pan" at Eastdr, should have been passed with Mr Barrie's personal imprimatur. Mr Williamson spoke interestingly of dramatic tendencies both in London and America. ' "In England," he said, "I found a difficulty m getting good new material. The men arc there, but they do not seem to be doing the same work. I saw scores of new plays by the bestknown dramatists, many of which seem, ed to go well in London, but they did not appear to have quite the grip of 0e previous successes. . I discussed the question with Henry Arthur Jones, among others. I said to him, 'Why don't you write a new 'Silver King'?' He only smiled. The fact is, I think, that the established dramatists are geting lazy; they have a secured position and they write more to please their own whim. Their works don't seem to have the same vitality; they don't seem, to have the same strength — the same heart.. That is, of course, speaking of the average. The people in any country—England or America— will only make a lasting success of what has real power and real heart in 'it. The most reliable man of them all is Barrie. Pinero is not doing so much work, though I may say that I have bought the right to produce all his plays. The problem play of which he was at one time the recognised exponent is fading .out. A good melodrama will always attract; but H must be good— not a second or thirdrate piece." One af the new pieces secured by Mr Williamson is "A Waltz Dream," a Viennese operetta by Doormann and Jacobson, music by Oscar Straus, and the English book "by Joseph Herbert Americans had been 'told concerning it. writes the New York correspondent ot the Daily Telegraph, that another "Merry Widow" had come to town Whether that is true, or untrue, Londoners are to have a chance of deciding, because Mr Charles Frohman intends to present the "Waltz Dream" shortly in conjunction with Mr George Edwardes. There is a curious lack o I agreement in the American press criticisms of the piece. One section, and this by far the most numerous, hails it as sparkling like champagne, a signal success, while the minority say it is dull as ditchwater, all excepting the dream waltz, which was played on the stage by an orchestra of ladies, and may possibly rival the "Merry Widow" waltz. It is produced at the iiroadway Theatre, only a stone's-throw from Klaw and Erlanger's New Amsterdam Theatre, where the "Merry Widow" seems likely to i reign indefinitely.