A.D.C.
Beart's Successes
The inner pages of the programme are printed in the form of a burlesque newspaper entitled "The Hongkong Diurnal Mess" of which the following specimen news items are typical:
"We have no hesitation in stating on the authority of our own Police Court Reporter, that the performance by the A.D.C. to-night will be little more than a succession of the most obnoxious personal attacks on everyone of high reputation in the Colony."
'We are very sorry to learn that the Honourable the Colonial Secretary, while taking a stroll in the gardens yesterday evening about dusk, was suddenly struck by an idea. He was at once conveyed to his house, where prompt measures were taken to relieve the sufferer. We regret to hear that he is at present in a state of complete mental prostration.'
There is not much effervescence and precious little wit in these broad allusions. They sound rather silly to us, but they belong to an age when the Joe Millerisms of burlesque represented the popular plane of humour.
It was in the season 1870-71 that Mr. Beart made the first of a long series of successes in burlesque. Beart was far ahead of anyone in his time as a low comedian. He and Attwell Coxon are the two outstanding stage characters in the early history of the A.D.C. A contemporary writer stated that Beart would have taken a high position in any professional company. His character impersonations generally had a local touch of genius that brought down the house on his first stage entry. His 'Widow Twankey' in "Aladdin" - A Faded Flower of Shaukiwan* - was an exact impersonation of a sampan woman.
Sir John Hennessey
His finest effort in make-up and mannerism was as Sir Joseph Porter, when he impersonated with astonishing exactness the appearance, the speech, the gait and the peculiar manner of the Governor, Sir John Pope Hennessey, who, for some reason or other, happened at the time to be very unpopular with the British community. We learn from the newspaper reports that it was only with difficulty that the production could proceed, for the audience was convulsed with laughter during the whole time he was on the stage. His Excellency was not in the theatre - probably he thought it better not to spoil the sport - but he was evidently not without a sense of humour, for he asked Beart to lunch at Government House the following day and laughed heartily over the photographs of Sir Joseph Porter. It was said that with one exception this was the finest piece of acting ever seen in the Theatre Royal.
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Continuation
A.D.C.
Beart's Successes
The inner pages of the programme are printed in the form of a burlesque newspaper entitled "The Hongkong Diurnal Mess" of which the following specimen news items are typical:
"We have no hesitation in stating on the authority of our own Police Court Reporter, that the performance by the A.D.C. to-night will be little more than a succes- sion of the most obnoxious personal attacks on everyone of high reputation in the Colony."
'We are very sorry to learn that the Honourable the Colonial Secretary, while taking a stroll in the gardens yesterday evening about dusk, was suddenly struck by an idea. He was at once conveyed to his house, where prompt measures were taken to relieve the sufferer. We regret to hear that he is at present in a state of complete mental prostration.'
There is not much effervescence and precious little wit in these broad allusions. They sound rather silly to us, but they belong to an age when the Joe Millerisms of burlesque represented the popular plane of humour.
It was
in the season 1870-71 that Mr. Beart made the first of a long series of successes in burlesque. Beart was far ahead of anyone in his time as a low comedian. He and Attwell Coxon are the two outstanding stage characters in the early history of the A.D.C. A contemporary writer stated that Beart would have taken a high position in any professional company. His character impersonations generally had a local touch of genius that brought down the house' on his first stage entry. His 'Widow Twankey' in "Aladdin" - A Faded Flower of Shaukiwan* - was an exact impersonation of sampan woman.
Sir John Hennessey
His finest effort in make-up and mannerism was as Sir Joseph Porter, when he impersonated with astonishing exactness the appearance, the speech, the gait and the peculiar manner of the Governor, Sir John Pope Hennessey, who, for some reason or other, happened at the time to be very unpopular with the British community. We learn from the newspaper reports that it was only with difficulty that the production could proceed, for the audience was convulsed with laughter during the whole time he was on the stage. His Excellency was not in the theatre probably he thought it better not to spoil the sport - but he was evidently not without a sense of humour, for he asked Beart to lunch at Government House the following day and laughed heartily over the photographs of Sir Joseph Porter. It was said that with one exception this was the finest piece of acting ever seen in the Theatre Royal.
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