The Washington times., 1912-08-18
Julia Murdock Says Playwright
Could Find Material in Bermuda

Hamilton, Bermuda, Aug. II, 1912.
To travel eastward by rail and sea
nearly a thousand miles to be present
at the first theatrical performance ever
given in the Islands of Bermuda was
the experience OF The Times dramatic
editor.
Since that time early in the sixteenth
century when these islands were dis
covered resting upon the turquoise
bosom of the Atlantic, until Saturday
night, August TO- 1912, no performance
that even remotely resembled dramatic
entertainment had ever been attempted.
There are native Bermudians living in
those islands who, though thoroughly
up-to-date along other lines, have not
even the slightest conception OF the
great world Of the drama that liest to
the westward, over a three days jour-
ney distant.
"Pinafore" and the other Gilbert and
Sullivan operas have come and gone;
Negro minstrelsy has been born, has
reached Its zenith, and has tottered
odwn toward the shady side of It's
career; musical comedy has developed;
| the meIodrama has fiourshed: vaude-
vile has grown into a sturdy insti-
| tuition; the cabaret show has made its
| appearance, yet the natives of the Ber-
mudas know nothing of these unless,
perchance they have visited New York
or London. Never until that Saturday
night when Bermuda's first "show" took
place. To be sure, 1t was only mo
vie"-litte brother to the real drama
but If it had been a Sothern and Mar
lowe production, or a premiere presenta-
| tot
patory ripple none, the less exciting
Civil War Pictures
Excite Great Interest.
| lugubrious subject and. strangely
enough. one dealing with the civil war
| of the United States, was chosen for
| the initial performance, and everybody
| in Bermuda was there, subjects Of King
| George. as well as several hundred Citi-
zens of the United States. The natives
came from the adjoining parishes of
st. Georges. Pembroke-P Paget, Warwick,
and Flats Village. The admission fee
was three pence.
Relocated British officers, escorting
English beauties in evening Dress Cooks
tourists. and visitors from the States
| elbowed the native Bermudians In the
exclusive seats, while the rear benches
! in the sailloft, which had been convert
| ed into theater for this occasion, were
occupied by rows of blackfaced Ber-
| mudan- Africans, who couldn't be con-
vinced that these picture people who
moved and acted on the screen were
not in league with Satan himself
| Accustomed to taking every expert
ence with British stolidity there was
| little applause, and the audience filed
out OF the hall slowly and silently after
| the last reel had been run.
This is the story of BermudaLS first
venture into the big and wonderful
world of amusement
Later in the evening, when talking
| over affairs theatrical with a party of
British officers, two or three writer's.
and some visitors from the States"
somebody sprung. the question. why
not Bermudan play""
not?"
Play Writers Travel
To Far Distant Scenes.
Writers of plays have drawn upon
nearly every corner of the world for
dramatic material. Synge and Lady
Gregory have taken their audiences in
Rides to the Sea-" thirty miles to the
west of Galway. to those rocky islands
Irishmaan, Aronmore, and Inishire
those three little dots on the ocean
which, through the writings of these au-
thors have become of more than ordi-
nary importance to the world which
had never before heard of their exis-
tence The Arabian desert, with it's
stretches of sandy waste, was brought
to us in. The Garden of Allah" The
great, glorious open West with it's gold
en- sunshine; the barren and frozen
North, Hawaii, paradise of the Pacific,
with its wild tropical beauty; Persia,
with its mysticism and it's alluring
charm-in fact, every portion of the
globe has been combed by play-makers
In the hope of discovering something
novel and just a little bit different in
the way of locale, that shall add that
picturesque touch without which even
the most absorbing plot will prove fiat
and lacking.
Real BeTmudians. will tell you that
the real Bermuda has never been prop
erly exploited, either in play. song; or
story. This little island. or rather
| group of 365 islands-one for each day
in the year-has material in abundance
for a play. Here lie in wait for the
writer the picturesque characters, the
colorful settings, the atmosphere that
would make a play that would be as