The Hawaiian gazette., 1899-05-19
THE CUCKOO"

Fun and Nastiness at the Avenue
Theatre.
Certainly very funny farce,
brilliantly written. full of witty
phrases and humorous characterize
ton. In all probability ii 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 10 write for the
young lady OF fifteen. and no doubt II
is very right and proper that it should
be so. No doubt ii is very right and
proper and credtable 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
1t will be interesting to note the at
titude of those who lift up their hands
in holy horror IL serious play treats
of vice in serious fashion, though its
aim may be high and its motive lofty
it will be interesting to note the
attitude of these towards THE
Cuckoo Mr. Brookfield's adaptation
from Meilhac's farce, "Decore,"
No doubt this picture of fact and
fiippant libertinism; this rechauffe of
funny stories" which used to wait un-
I'll the ladies had left the dining room:
these references to the "demimOnde"
and common women" and TO our
room by a lady on a trip TO riverside
hotel with 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 dlssuade the
public, only to tell them what to eX-
pect Then If they rush 10 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 peryersions of
the French. which mask everything
the lips utter, but accentuate II with
a wink and a loer. That question
it Is not necessary to argue.
We do not blame Mr.. Brookfeld-if
blame Is deserved. He is witty, a
caustic and clever writer: he was told
to adapt "DeCOre" and he adapted It.
He has tried TO cleanse IL as much as
possible; he has crammsd 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, We're we disposed
10 display our prejudice and our
bigotry, is Why was DecOre brought
10 England at all?
II Is, OF course. ridiculous TO see any
thing unfit in the story OF "A husband
and wife taking jauntS for night
into the country with another woman
and another man. Nothing wrong ac-
tually happens, so why complain?
Why object when II Is only suggestion
and suggestivenesS from beginning to
end? The theatre Is not for the young
lady OF fifteen. It Is still supposed 10
De for gentlewumen, however. But II
the gentlewOmen do not Object
II Is all funny, decidedly funny The
drowning man and the lion and the
negro pOtentate and the admirable
waiter and the skit on 'jOurnalese"-
all funny, very funny. And the audi
ence laughed loudly, and cheered and
applauded. The Cuckoo Is most
laughabe farce. That many things
are laughable which are not wellbred
or clean is an undeniable fact.
The acting Is admirable, II 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.
I%sion Lyle. Miss Fannie Ward was
much oyorwcightod as the heroine
AND The Cuckoo Is the successor to
'"rd and Lady A'gy"'
iWHat lUou2 The Evening Post OF
New York recently denounced the
management Of the stage hy men who
pandered, ETC., iu The low tastes of the
multitude,
There are many hORas used fpr i'm
proper purpO"s, Would YOU abolish
lOuses, or would you oIcan them out
ana improve the uses Of thIm2 Mould
you fOreFo the pleasure ~ having
dogs, because some men use them fbr
dog hght.ng' Would you give up "a,