THE CHANGING STAGE

Taranaki Daily News, 8 June 1931, Page 8

THE CHANGING STAGE

PLAYERS OF OTHER DAYS.

LOVE OF SHAKESPEARE.

A bright and interesting half-hour talk on hir. theatrical experiences, spiced with good stories of life on and off the stage, was given members of the Wellington Rotary Club on Tuesday by Mr. Allan Wilkie, actor and Shakespearean devotee.

Mr. Wilkie spoke of the many changes which had taken place in regard to the stage in the last decade, few of theip, he added, for the better. Perhaps in no way was this more emphasised than in the personnel of those connected with it. When he was first asociated with the stage it was in the era of the actornianager—now it was the theatrical syndicate. But it was the actor himself who had changed. When he was ip England, associated with the stage were such fine players as Sir Henry Irving, Sir Charles Wyndham, -Sir George Alexander. Cyril Maude, Toole. Hare, Ellen Terry, Genevieve Ward and others of that type, who lent the weight and charm of their colourful personalities to the theatres and the plays they were associated with, “just as you may have noticed out here in the case of Robert Brough, Alfred Dampier, George Rignold and Bland Holt.” Now, said Mr. Wilkie, the stage was occupied by rather negative people, a fact, he had no doubt, which had helped to bring about the present eclipse of the stage —people who were more stereotyped and standardised. “When in my middle twenties,” said Mr. Wilkie, “I toured England-with my own company. This included an old actor of the Bohemian type, very amusing and entertaining, who only exists now in the pages of ‘Punch,’ drawn with a rather bibulous nose, a blue chin, and a moth-eaten fur coat. This was John Paley, an able actor, 35 years my senior, who had been associated with Charles Kean, Barry Sullivan and other great stars. On one occasion I was getting out a circular in which, failing the real thing, I had written flattering press notices about myself. I showed the proof to old John, and asked him whether he thought the notices about myself were too fulsome. ‘Not at all, my boy,’ said he, ‘better a live ass than a dead lion in any easel’ A certain boarding-house landlady in England, on being questioned as to the prospects for the season, replied, “Well, some does badly; others not so well!” Another of the type in a small town, when asked if she were going to the theatre, said: “If it’s a good company, what’s it doing here ? If it’s not a good one I don’t want to see it! “In a small town in New South Wales.” said Mr. Wilkie, “1 was to play ‘The Merchant of Venice.’ I was standing outside the theatre, unobserved by the old uniformed custodian, who was quite a personality in the town. A middle-aged couple sauntered up and read the playbill. Turning to her husband the woman said: ‘lt takes a good actor to play Shylockl’ With the reputation of his theatre

at stake, the custodian broke in with, ‘This man is good. He’s the original. He wrote it!’ 21 further example of the ignorance ot Shakespeare was given by Mr. Wilkie. “I was playing ‘Coriolanus’ at the Pi inccss Theatre, Melbourne, when a man dashed up to the ticket-box. ‘What’s on here?’ he asked. ‘Coriolanus,’ was the rcplv. ‘Thank God it’s not Shakespeare —give me two tickets!’” As a contrast to the ignorance of the English was the enthusiasm of the Hindu* for Shakespeare. Billed to play “Hamlet” at Madras, Mr. Wilkie and his fellow-actors were surprised to_ be held up at the theatre doors for half-an-hour getting through some 400'0 or 5000 native students who had come all the way from Tripcliinopoly'to witness the play, which had to be repeated several times. At Mangalore, a small party of natives actually walked 60 miles to the nearest railway station, then travelled 300 miles by rail to witness one performance. When it was considered that these people only received £1 a month at the outside, it was a remarkable test of the enthusiasm of the Hindu people for the bard. On the motion of the chief Rotarian, Mr. Wilkie was given a very hearty vote of thanks for his entertaining address.