477 



Theatrical Visitors and the Ballet. 



Many notable actors, singers and dan- 

 cers are at present visiting Australia, 

 and during the next few months will be 

 delighting audiences in all the larger 

 towns of the Commonwealth. 



MR. LEWIS WALLER. 

 One of England's leading actors, Mr. 

 Lewis Waller, with his Company, opens 

 in Sydney with Henry V., and this 

 will be followed by many other plays 

 which he has made particularly his own. 

 Mr. Waller is undoubtedly the most 

 popular actor at home in his own line. 

 He has recognised his limitations, and 

 confines himself to the plays in which 

 as a dashing hero and lover his voice 

 and bearing are peculiarly fitted. He 

 created the part of Monsieur Beaucair 

 and it made his reputation. As Robin 

 Hood he filled his theatre night after 

 night. His d'Artagnan in one version 

 of the Three Musketeers, and his Buck- 

 ingham in another, drew crowded houses 

 for months. When with Sir Herbert 

 Tree he was the favourite of a large sec- 

 tion of the audiences, who not infre- 

 quently resented his not having the title 

 role. In the famous tent scene in Julius 

 Caesar he gave a particularly fine ren- 

 dering of Brutus, and in Henry V., of 

 course, he has a part which just suits 

 him. On the whole, though, he is hap- 

 pier in romantic historical plays border- 

 ing on melodrama than in Shakespeare, 

 and one would hate to see him even at- 

 tempt some of the character studies in 

 which Sir Herbert Tree so excelled. He 

 must have a part which keeps him al- 

 ways up and doing, and shows him on 

 the stage most of the time. 



The Butterfly on the Wheel, although 

 it had a long run in London, is not per- 

 haps a play for Mr. Waller's particular 

 genius. One fancies him always rather 

 as a dashing highwayman than as an 

 astute lawyer. If Mr. Devereux's new 

 play, which has been specially written 

 for this tour, is on the same lines as 

 his Robin Hood, it will suit Mr. Waller 

 —and his audience — admirably. Mr. 

 Hemmerde, by the way, who wrote the 

 Butterfly on the Wheel, is an eminent 



K.C., once Recorder of Liverpool, who 

 has quite a reputation in the House of 

 Commons. Twelve years ago he won 

 the coveted Diamond Sculls at Henley. 

 Mr. Lewis Waller was born in Spain in 

 i860, and first appeared on the stage 

 when he was 23. His father, Mr. Lewis, 

 was a civil engineer. Miss Madge Tither- 

 adge, the leading lady in the strong 

 Company which he is bringing, is an 

 Australian girl, who has achieved great 

 success at home. 



THE QV I NLAN OPERA COMPANY. 

 The Ouinlan Opera Company is al- 

 ready well known in Australia. Its sea- 

 son starts in Melbourne in August. The 

 complete cycle of Wagner's Ring of the 

 Nibelung will be given. In Germany it 

 is said that no man can long stand the 

 strain of conducting Wagner, so great 

 is the tax on ear, eye, brain and 

 physique, but Herr Richard Eckhold has 

 successfully come through the ordeal, 

 and his interpretation of the Wagnerian 

 theme is a veritable orchestral triumph. 

 No Australian audience would, however, 

 be asked to sit out one of the great 

 German composer's complete operas, 

 which, when given in his native land, 

 begin at 3 in the afternoon, and with an 

 hour's break, continue until eleven at 

 night. No wonder the conductors break 

 down ! Mr. Ouinlan is bringing many 

 of the old members of the Company 

 with him, and the others who are new to 

 Australia have that general high stan- 

 dard of all-round excellence which was 

 the most distinguishing feature of the 

 Company last year. 



A GIFTED EXPONENT OF GREEK DRAMA. 

 Miss Dorothea Spinney will shortly 

 be in Australia, where she will give a 

 few representations of the Euripidian 

 Plays which have made so great an im- 

 pression in England, and an even 

 greater one in America. These 2000- 

 year-old dramas have been translated 

 by Professor Gilbert Murray, who has 

 preserved their wonderful power in lan- 

 guage of haunting beauty. Miss Spin- 

 ney's method of conveying the meaning 

 of these age-old plays is quite unique. 



