Press Clippings for the week ending
Saturday, 9 August 2003

A random selection of cuttings
from newspapers and magazines

G.H. Chirgwin in London, Autumn 1881

G.H. Chirgwin (1854-1922), 'The White-Eyed Kaffir,' English music hall comedian

(caricature by Alfred Bryan
from The Entr'acte, London, Saturday, 24 September 1881, p.6a)

Cambridge music hall. 'Mr. Chirgwin is facile princes in his line; skilful, and possessed of a rare vein of grotesque humour. Whatever this gentleman elects to treat, he touches with a light and dainty hand, which proclaims the artist.' (The Entr'acte, London, Saturday, 3 September 1881, p.6b) Oxford music hall. 'Mr. G.H. Chirgwin's very entry tickles the risible faculties of the audience, and little rest from laughter is to be had while this versatile artist is in possession of the stage. His dressing for, and rendering of, the well-known ballad, "She wore a wreath of roses," is admirably carried out, and proves a most enjoyable finale to his entertainment.' (The Entr'acte, London, Saturday, 17 September 1881, p.11a/b) 'My chief informs me that Mr. Chirgwin "saves the pieces," and that he is at times to be seen at the deposit desk of a certain large bank. I shall know now to whom to apply when I am hard up. 'But why, Mr. Chirgwin, don't you give us a little violoncello-playing, as you did once upon a time? Do not discard the best item of your programme in favour of that wood, on which you cannot get your half-notes, and whose obstinacy you have to take pains to hide. Sacrifice the wood, if you like, Mr. Chirgwin, but do not relinquish the violoncello. You will want the wood when you play the part of the Woodman at the Gaiety.' Cambridge music hall. 'Mr. C. [sic] Chirgwin, "the white-eyed Kaffir," has little difficulty in amusing the visitors. The kind of entertainment he provides is – like that of Mr. [T.W.] Barrett's – original, quaint, and interesting in the extreme.' (The Entr'acte, London, Saturday, 1 October 1881, p.11b) London Pavilion music hall. '… the grotesque comedy of Mr. Chirgwin is irresistible.' (The Entr'acte, London, Saturday, 15 October 1881, p.11a) Oxford music hall. 'Even as Mr. [Arthur] Roberts represents one phase of art encouraged at our music hall, Mr. Chirwgin does another. This gentleman's accomplishments are many, but his gift of eccentric humour shines through every essay he makes. In his walk he cannot be distanced.' (The Entr'acte, London, Saturday, 5 November 1881, p.6a) * * * * * * * * Sister Mary with Leonard Boyne and Julia Arthur, American Theatre, New York, 15 May 1894.

Julia Arthur (1869-1950), American actress

(photo: Thors, San Francisco, circa 1893)

The Weakness of Sister Mary. 'Given as the writers of a play two men so skilled in stage lore as Wilson Barrett, the well known actor, and Clement Scott, the London dramatic critic, and the public is justified in expecting something out of the ordinary. Why Sister Mary should be called a comedy drama is one of the first problems that confront him who attempts to analyze it; but after the play has been sat through, he realizes that this term as aptly described it as any other. It is a piece of the crazy quilt order, with the shrill voiced child minus a father, with whom we have been already too long acquainted; the wronged woman who is wonderfully bright in being stupidly ignorant of facts which, it seems, she must inevitably know but for the hob that would play with some sensational situations; the leading gentleman, with a thirst for brandy and glory, and the time honoured fashion of remaining behind his men to spout valiant sentiments to the audience when the fight is on. 'It will be apparent from the foregoing that Sister Mary is painfully commonplace, and, in spite of its worthy sponsors, not a notch above the vast mass of stuff that has masqueraded on the boards during the past season under the name of dramas. And yet listen to a recent effusion by Mr. Barrett on "stage tradition": '"Freshness and originality in thought and expression are the very life blood, nay, the very soul, of literature, music, and painting, and without freshness and originality of thought and expression the stage must become bloodless, soulless and lifeless. In my opinion, the value of tradition to the modern stage is as the grain of wheat in a bushel of chaff – hardly worth finding." 'As Sister Mary [Mary Lisle], Julia Arthur does all that it is possible for the leading woman to do, but she is sadly hampered by Leonard Boyne, who does not possess the first qualification for the position he manages by some hook or crook to hold. His stage presence is not good, and his delivery is distinctly bad; in fact, it was difficult to differentiate the Walter Leigh drunk from the Walter Leigh sober. Miss Arthur, we understand, will not star with him much longer. Next season she intends to appear in a play founded upon the historic romance of Charlotte Corday. Our portrait of her [above] is not in character, but is merely a pose.' (Munsey's Magazine, New York, July 1894, pp.412b-414a) * * * * * * * * Ada Reeve divorces Bert Gilbert, London, 1900

Ada Reeve (1876-1966), English actress and singer

(photo: Alfred Ellis & Walery, London, circa 1900, negative no.32389-1a)

'Sir Francis Jeune [of the Divorce Court, London,] had before him the case of Hazlewood v. Hazlewood, which was the petition of Mrs. Adelaide Mary Hazlewood, better known as Miss Ada Reeve on the theatrical stage, for a dissolution of her marriage with her husband, Gilbert Joseph Hazlewood, otherwise known as Bert Gilbert. – Mr. Deane, Q.C., said that petitioner and respondent were married on May 5, 1894, at Nottingham. There were two children of the marriage. They played in various parts of England, and also went, in 1897, to Australia, where they played together. Respondent treated his wife abominably, with the result that in July, 1898, she brought a suit in Australia for a divorce. He, however, begged her to forgive him. This she did, but in order that she might protect herself against his mother, she made him write a confession and sign it. On the way back from Australia he treated her with such cruelty that she had to appeal to the captain of the ship. On their arrival in England, Miss Reeve took a flat at 14, St. James's Mansions, where she lived alone for some time, and her husband came back to her there and asked her to forgive him. The matter now complained of was subsequent to August 1, 1899. The cruelty to her was that he seized her by the arms, pinched her arms, and on one occasion her brother-in-law saw him ill-using her and threatened to thrash him. Subsequently she forgave him, but later he, after staying out a whole night, came home and said, "Would you like to know where I have been?" She answered, "Well, I suppose you would not tell me the truth if I did." He said, "I have stayed with Dolly ----." - Mrs. Hazlewood gave evidence as to receiving cruelty at the hands of her husband. Mrs. Watkins, the landlady at 79, Lambeth-road [London], gave evidence to the effect that Mr. Bert Gilbert and Miss Dolly had come to live in her house as Mr. and Mrs. Hazlewood. Mr. Deane asked whether the lady in question was an actress. – Watkins: Something of that sort. (Laughter.) – There was no defence, and his lordship granted a decree nisi, with costs.' (The News of the World, London, Sunday, 29 April 1900, p.2e) * * * * * * * * Robert L. Dempster, a rising young American actor, 1910

Robert L. Dempster

(photo: Hall, New York, 1910)

'The above portrait shows Robert L. Dempster as King Alexis in The King of Cadonia. After graduating from Cornell in 1904 Mr. Dempster made his debut on the stage, and since that time has been leading man with the Belasco Stock company in Los Angeles, with stock companies in Rochester and Buffalo, with Lulu Glaser in Mlle. Mischief, in The Road to Yesterday, The Blue Mouse, The Wishing Ring, and The King of Cadonia. At the special matinee of The Wishing Ring Friday [28 January 1910] at Daly's [New York] Mr Dempster assumed his old role. In The King of Cadonia he is making his second appearance in musical comedy. The fact that Mr. Dempster's stage career covers only the short space of four and one-half years attests his ability as a player.' (The New York Dramatic Mirror, New York, Saturday, 29 January 1910, p.3c) * * * * * * * *

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© John Culme, 2003