MR. GEORGE GIDDENS.

New Zealand Illustrated Sporting & Dramatic Review, Volume IX, Issue 694, 25 June 1903, Page 10

MR. GEORGE GIDDENS.

When you have enjoyed five minutes’ conversation with the, creator of the part of Ringlet, and tfie impersonator of Mr Amos Bloodgood, you understand) whv he is able tb make you merry in spite of yourself. It is not because he is “ funny,’’ for in private life Mr Giddens is a quiet, cultured English gentleman,

but because he thoroughly understands his art, and does not make light of the tremendous obligations it imposes upon the artist. He possesses a large fund of humour, 1 it is true, but he has that infinite capacity for hard work without which a sense of the ludicrous would not produce much. In the course of a life that has given me some experiences I have noticed that it takes the same “ kirid ” of genius to make a successful actor as to make a successful lawye, Consider how needful to both is a profound knowledge of human nature, how indispensable the dramatic faculty, the ability to put yourself in “ the other man’s” place. The great pleader, who in saying, “we are charged with this burglary,” or what not, uses the words conscientiously. For the moment he is the criminal pleading for his liberty or his life. Similarly, the great actor, when he cries “ A horse ! a horse ! my kingdom for a horse I ” believes for the moment that he is Crookback himself in a tight place on the field of Bosworth. In playing the Moor he does not require that he shall be blackened “ all over,” as some fatuous amateur is reported to have been ; he lives the part within. So close is the parallel between the two professions that it is difficult to tell the most eminent members of one from those of the other, With a wig on, Mr Giddens would ma ’ an ideal judge, and I know some judges who would not. make a bad fist with Amos Bloodgood. Mr Giddens gave up the law for the stage. .

Mr Giddens is a most pleasant man to talk to, and the only topic he is reticent upon is that of his own achievements. On this subject you pump him with difficulty, though he likes to talk about the stage and actors, with never a word of disparagement for his fellowworkers. His career is public property, however, and his successes in London and'the States, mostly with Sir Charles Wvndham, a little with Cyril Maude, and a little on his own account, are too recent to be put into history yet. He has been right through the mill, beginning with the princely salary of fifteen shillings < a week in anEdinburgh stock company. He had thrown up the law against the wishes of his family, and. through good and ill he has never iegretted the step. It was a little surprising to find that, the famous actor had been) in New Zealand before, but it was such a long time ago, and he was so young and so undistinguished then, that one may well be excused for not remembering it. He came here at the end of the ’Seventies with the Californian Diamond, but the tour \was meteroic in character, and he did not see enough of us to make a clear impression. He does not recognise Auckland again, and has some sort of idea that this important City was a fishing village when he was last here. This is perhaps natural, as Mr Giddens’ mind runs greatly on fishing, and there are few more enthusiastic devotees of the rod and line. He knows something of the classical streams of North America, as well as of the purling rivers of his native Islands, and it was his cherished hope thaj he would be able to test the fighting strength of our New

Zealand trout. Alas; for the vanity of human wishes, he comes here just at the beginning of the 11 close ” season ! Nevertheless, the Colony has other attractions, and our visitor means to see as much of it as he can. He is a liberal patron of our electric tram system, and already knows the suburban area as intimately as most natives. Mr Giddens is yet, most happily, in the prime of life, on the suntay side of fifty, and he will, • undoubtedly, add fresh laurel leaves to his already considerable crown. It is good to have seen him, better to have known him, because such knowledge helps to keep one’s impressions of the stage and stage life sweet and wholesome.