The record-union., 1899-11-19

What atrocities of bad taste and worse
ignorance are committed under the d.
rection' Of the directors employed by
the spectators in foreign wares! They
have their scene models sent over. They
go abroad and study the original pro-
auctions in London and Paris. And
yet, when the curtain rises here, our
sense of artistic propriety is offended.
and we conclude that the art of stage
directing-sO far as this country is con-
cerned--is rapidly going to Mr.. Manta-
ini's demnition bow-wows Improve
ment will come only when the present
conditions are changed for the better
when the directors of the directors are
men of sense, character, knowledge and
good taste" All of which is true, and
to the point, as we in Portland too fire.
quently have occasion to observe.
The London Era" makes the lament
able announcement that Rose Norreys,
the favorite actress, is hopelessly in
sane. A fund is to be raised to enable
her friends to put her in private asy-
lum.
ne FAMOUS little LONDON Prlnce OIL
Wales Theater, scene of the EARLY tri-
umphs of the Robertsonian comedy,
whose impending demolition was an
nounced some time ago, is, it appears,
to be reconstructed and reopened as a
place of theatrical entertainment.
The death, at the age of thirty-seven
Of Laurence Aubrey Desborough,
known under his stage name of Lau-
renee Cautley, is announced in London
After appearing under Miss Marie Lit
ton, he played in THE Red Lamp" at
the London Haymarket and in 1.-The
Union Jack" at the Adelphi. He visited
American and Australia, and was the
original Captain Hentzau in 1.-The Pris-
oner of Zenda,'' at the London St.
James's Theater.
Under the tile of "Loppfaisaatto' the
Finnish Literary Society has just pub
lished at Helsingfors a translation into
Finnish, by Paavo Emil Cajander Of
Shakespeare's Twelfth Night" This
is the sixteenth of the series of Ca
jander's Finnish translations of Shakes
peare's plays. the first, i. e., Hamlet
having been published in 1879.
y i
According to a correspondent of the
Paris Figaro" Eleanora Duse, at Cleo
patra, carried Berlin by storm. Her
death scene especially appears to have
caused scene of indescribable enthu-
siasm, which was only ended by her
refusal to answer any more calls before
the curtain. She has promised to re-
visit Berlin at the end of this month
and to act in Romeo and Juliet and
La Gioconda" of Gabriel d Annunzio.
~
THE latest development in the way
OF theatrical enterprise says the Lon
don Telegraph sis The Stage So
ciety, which has just been formed, with
managing committee composed
OF Charles Charrington, Laurence
Irving, William Sharp, James WEIGH
and Frederick Wheeler. According to
rule :, it is laid down that the society
shall meet on one Sunday in each
month, for nine months in the wear:
that at least six performances shall be
given during the year; that the sub
scrIptlon shall be two guineas. the
minimum number of members 200. and
the maximum 300' Already three
plays have been selected for perform
ance, and these will be presented.
probably at the Grosvenor Gallery.
They are, You Never Can Tell by
george Bernard Smith, on Sunday.
november 18th; The League of Youth
by Henrick Ibsen, on Sunday, Deem
Der 18th, and Mrs Maxweil's Marriage
by Sidney Oliver, on Sunday, January
list Later plays by Maeterlinck. SUI
dermann and Hauptmann will be given
The proceedings are to be strictly pri-
vate, and no critic, unless he creeps in
in the guise of a paying member will
be admitted
Charles Wyndham has secured the
English rights in the play of .oThe
'Swashbuckler," which Louis Parker
wrote for E. S. Willard. The scene of
this play is laid in Alsace during the
thirty years war, and a sketch of the
plot has been printed already in this
journal. 1t relates to the adventures of
a scapegrace and his fair cousin. each
OF whom is trying to reach a certain
point in order to win an estate accord
ing to the peculiar provisions of their
uncle's will.
The Bottle at Ship Launches.