The Gisborne Times PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING GISBORNE, SEPTEMBER 1, 1903. GISBORNE’S THEATRE.

Gisborne Times, Volume X, Issue 983, 1 September 1903, Page 2

The Gisborne Times PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING GISBORNE, SEPTEMBER 1, 1903. GISBORNE’S THEATRE.

Io his book, " John Ball,” tho iato Max O’Rell with au unsparing hand holds up to ridicule many of the pretensions of the various colonial towns visited on his tour of tho globe. The said eminent writer did not visit Gisborne or we fear that the leading structure devoted to amusement in this town and pretentiously yclept Theatre Royal would have suffered somewhat severely in this respect. Is it not time that some stir was made in the direction of securing something approaching “ decent ” in the way of a place of amusement for so progressive a town, as Gisborne? Surely the Borough Council in the past must have been peculiarly apathetic in "ranting a 'license to such au ill-arranged place of amusement as tho one aOovo quoted. Could they have recognised the grave responsibility shirked, as year after year they granted the said license, for until the latest application this has been done with practically no demur, for although not pleasant to contemplate, what would be tho result in the event of an outbreak of fire during a performance, with the Theatre only moderately filled ? In our midst wo have gentlemen who are indefatigable in securing, or trving so to do, visits from the best companies that tour' this colony, and vet such visits can only be fraught with vexation to performers aud audiences alike. To the management the difficulty of landin" at Gisborne must sink into insignificance when it is confronted with entire lack of conveniences and the inadequacy of the stage. To an audience condemned to sit for two hours and a half on the hard uncomfortable seats, all on a dead leve the performance, be ifc ever so fine, is greatly discounted, whilst With a mediocre show torture is about the only word applicabio to denote the feeling of those who have paid the price of admission seeking pleasure. In the event of a public ball or one of those modern hybrid functions—a social.— it would be impossible to m-

umerate ;he disadvantages under which a I coimnuite work to ensure success, and yet -3 the harder they work the more is that sue- e cess discounted. Limited floor space, no provision for serving up a supper, dressing, j retiring, and card rooms conspicuous by j their absence, are a few of the incon- j veniences met with. Need we add more to our indictment to secure the utter condemnation ,of the Theatre Royal as our leading place of amusement? But we 1 should like to feel that our efforts to secure such were likely to be productive of something better in the shape of a ball that would reflect credit upon the community. We use the word hail advisably, feeling that it would he somewhat premature to advocate the erection of a building which couid be used only for theatrical purposes, being quite convinced that a building that would be available for general purposes of amusement would prove a paying concern. Unfortunately the Borough Council has no central endowment which might be utilised for this purpose, otherwise wo should strongly advocate a municipal hall, being satisfied that were a poll taken in regard to a loan for erection of same it would be carried by an overwhelming majority. This leads to the question would a private company meet with support. We are inciined to take the affimative view, although fully aware that with capitalists theatres and shipping are regarded as equally doubtful speculations, but in this instance we do not think that the enterprising capitalist would be drawn upon. The proposal would meet with such general support from a long-eufferiDg public as to rapidly fill up the share list, and once subscribed we are certain that with careful management good dividends on the amount expended would result. Is there any one with sufficient energy to take the matter up ?