The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1899-05-19
THE CUCKOO.
Fun and Nastiness at the Avenue
Theatre.

Fun and Nastiness at the Avenue
| Theatre.
Certainly very funny farce,
| brilliantly written, full of witty
| phrases and humorous characterize
| ton. In all probability it will be a
| great SUGGESTIVE ladies and gentle
men at the Avenue Theatre last night
| laughed heartily and with keen en-
| joyment from beginning to end
| We have ceased TO write for the
young lady of fifteen, and no doubt 1t
| is very right and proper that it should
| be So No doubt it is very right and
proper and creditable to turn the stage
into the club smoking-roOm-a' smart
| club smoking-room. Equality of the
| sexes is in the air. By all means let
| us divert our womenfolk with smut
good, forcible slang is smut" But
! it viii be interesting to note the at
titude of those who lift up their hands
| in holy horror if a serious play treats
OF vice in serious fashion, though its
aim may be high and its motive lofty
it viii be interesting to note the
attitude of these towards The
Cuckoo" Mr. Brookfeld's adaptation
from Meilhac's farce, ''Decore."
No doubt this picture of fact and
flippant libertinism; this rechauffe OF
funny stories WHICH uS6U 10 walt I'LL
til the ladies had left the dining-r0om;
these references to the 'demimonde"
| and common women and to four"
room by lady on trip to a riverside
hotel with a man not her husband:
these blatant women picked up at
Niagara these black men in their
shirts; these "damns' used in the pre-
| sence of women-no doubt these are
| the concomitants of successful plays.
| We do not write for the young lady
| of fifteen. We are enlightened, we are
| emancipated, we have left all the silly
old prejudices behind us. No doubt
smart society will flock to the Ave-
nue. Our duty is not to dissuade the
| public, only to tell them what to ex-
| pect Then if they rush to the Avenue
Theatre it is their business, they must
look out for themselves.
| Some may say that frank indecency
would be better than the shallow hypo-
| crisy of these English perversions of
| the French, which mask everything
| the lips utter, but accentuate it with
| a wink and a leer. That question
| it is not necessary 20 argue.
We do not blame Mr.. Brookfield-if
| blame is deserved. He is a witty, a
caustic and clever writer; he was told
to adapt "Decore'' and he adapted it.
He has tried to cleanse it as much as
possible: he has crammad his work
with brilliant lines and drawn for us
| many humorous and amusing charac-
| ters; he has done his work very skill
fully. We cannot blame him-and we
are sure those explosives are not his;
all We might ask, were we disposed
TO display our prejudice and our
| bigotry. is Why was DecOre brought
to England at all?
| 1t is, of course. ridiculous to see any
thing unfit in the story Of husband
| and wife taking jaunts for a night
into the country with another woman
and another man. Nothing wrong ac-
tually happens, so why complain?
| Why object when it is only suggestion
| and SuggeStiVeness from beginning to
end? The theatre is not for the young
| lady of fifteen. 1t is still supposed to
| be for gentlewomen, however. But if
| the gentlewOmen do not Object.
It is-au funny, decidedly funny The
| drowning man and the lion and the
negro pOtentate and the admirable
waiter and the sllit on 'journalese"-
all funny, very funny. And the audi
ence laughed loudly, and cheered and
| applauded. The Cuckoo is a most
| are laughable which are not weIlbred
or clean is an undeniable fact.
The acting is admirable, it could not
! be better. Mr.. Charles Hawtrey.
struggling heroically against terrible
| cold was in his best form. Extremely
| clever was the waiter of Mr.. Charles
| Stevens; whimsical and humorous
were Mr.. Arthur Williams and Mr.
| I4yston Lyle. Miss Fannie Ward was
much overweighted as the heroine.
And The Cuckoo is the successor to
lord and Lady Algy",
what then? The Evening Post of
New York recently denounced the
management of the stage by men who
pandered. etc, to the low tastes of the
multitude.
There are many houses used for i'm
proper purpOes. Would you abolish
houses, or would you clean them out
and improve the uses of them? Would
you forego Che pleasure Of having
dogs, because some men use them for
dog fighting? Would you give up the