238 ON AND OFF THE TURF. 



variety companies visited Australia, and tlie Cra^g 

 family astonished every one with their clever acrobatic 

 feats. Miss Billie Barlow, Fred Mason, Frank 

 Lincoln, were all well pleased with the reception 

 they met with. Enough has been written to show 

 Australians patronise the theatres well, and a good 

 company can always rely upon a hearty reception. 

 Ic does not always follow that a London success will 

 prove a Colonial success, and unsuitable plays are 

 often brought oat by men who ought to have better 

 judgment. In high class comedy no one is more 

 nppreciated than Pinero whose plays are sure to prove 

 a draw. The Adelphi drama and Mr. Geo. Sims' 

 plays are sure to be profitable productions. Mr. 

 Haddon Chambers' play, " The Idler,'' was first 

 produced in Australia by Miss Olga Nethersole, and it 

 was at once a success, more so than the same author's 

 ^' Captain Swift.'' Mr. George Darrell is another 

 Australian author-actor who has produced many local 

 plays with varying success. Mr. George Leitch first 

 produced his dramatised version of Marcus Clark's 

 *' His Natural Life," at the Theatre Royal, Bris- 

 bane. I was present at the opening performance 

 which dragged on until the small hours of the 

 morning. The Brisbane Courier gave it a notice of 

 several columns, which I fancy must have been 

 written up at intervals during the preceding week. 

 There is plenty of theatrical talent in the Colonies, 



