A. DC. I
The history of the Theatre Royal, which was pulled down in June last, has been given briefly (see 17-6-33) when mention was made of the beginnings of the Amateur Dramatic Club. Something more about the history of theatrical art in the Colony is due and some further notes will be given to-day about the A. D. C. and the Philharmonic Society, and two popular local institutions whose yearly productions help to keep the histrionic art alive in these days of "talkies" and a tacit boycott of Hongkong (or so it seems) by touring companies.
It was just over three years from the founding of the Colony that an Amateur Dramatic Corps (as it was then called) was formed. The organisation came into being on December 18, 1844, and it competed more or less successfully with the professional entertainers, who had visited Hongkong as early as 1842. Unfortunately, there is no record of the first theatre built here, but we know that some temporary structure was in use, as in the case of the earliest Protestant places of worship. Mention is definitely made of a theatre in 1843, and it is known that this was a matshed affair, which fell into a state of disrepair in the Sixties.
It is not known how the A.D.C. came to languish, but we have a record of its revival in 1848, the activities being resumed on December 2 that year. Intermittent performances were given, in the matshed Royal Theatre, as the first theatre had been named, presumably situated on Queen's Road, where all the principal structures were then located, and possibly not far removed from the Theatre Royal which replaced it.
We find that in December, 1862, the Dramatic Corps was still flourishing, so much so that the officers of the garrison, who had been running competitive amateur theatricals, entered that month into what was practically an amalgamation with the civilian organisation. The military men had been using the old Garrison Theatre, from the early Fifties, for performances which were open to the public, but we read that considerable irritation had been caused towards the close of 1859 when it was found that, while season tickets were offered to the public at fixed rates by the Army officers, they were restricted to certain classes of society: for instance, the Parsee merchants were excluded, a measure which gave particular offence and led eventually to a withdrawal of this ban on the so-called lower strata of Hongkong's residents. The discrimination must have suffered a natural demise, and the amalgamation with the A.D.C. in 1862 appears to have been a direct outcome of this failure to differentiate among local audiences.
As a further result of this combining of thespian forces, the Royal Theatre, which as one would expect with a matshed building, had fallen into a dilapidated state, was reconstructed and ready for use again in June 1864.
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A. DC. I
The history of the Theatre Royal, which was pulled down in June last, has been given briefly (see 17-6-33) when mention was made of the beginnings of the Amateur Dramatic Club. Some- thing more about the history of theatrical art in the Colony is due and some further notes will be given to-day about the A. D. C. and the Philharmonic Society, and two popular local institutions whose yearly productions help to keep the his- trionic art alive in these days of "talkies" and a tacit boycott of Hongkong (or so it seems) by touring companies.
It was just over three years from the founding of the Colony that an Amateur Dramatic Corps (as it was then called) was fromed. The organisation came into being on December 18, 1844, and it competed more or less successfully with the professional entertainers, who had visited Hongkong as early as 1842. Unfortunately there is no record of the first theatre built here, but we know that some temporary structure was in use, as in the case of the earliest Protestant places of worship. Mention is definitely made of a theatre in 1843, and it is known that this was a matshed affair, which fell into a state of disrepair in the Sixties.
It is not known how the A.D.C. came to languish, but we have a record of its revival in 1848, the activities being re- sumed on December 2 that year. Intermittent performances were given, in the matshed Royal Theatre, as the first theatre had been named, presumably situated on Queen's Road, where all the principal structures were then located, and possibly not far re- moved from the Theatre Royal which replaced it.
We find that in December, 1862, the Dramatic Corps was still flourishing, so much so that the officers of the garrison, who had been running competitive amateur theatricals, entered that month into what was practically an amalgamation with the civilian organisation. The military men had been using the old Garrison Theatre, from the early Fifties, for per ormances which were open to the public, but we read that considerable irritation had been caused towards the close of 1859 when it was found that, while season tickets were offered to the public at fixed rates by the Army officers, they were restricted to certain classes of society: for instance, the Parsee merchants were excluded, a measure which gave particular offence and led eventually to a withdrawal of this ban on the so-called lower strata of Hongkong's residents. The discrimination must have suffered a natural demise, and the amalgamation with the A.D.C. in 1862 appears to have been a direct outcome of this failure to differentiate among local audiences.
As a further result of this combining of thespian forces, the Royal Theatre, which as one would expect with a matshed building, had fallen into a dilapidated state, was reconstructed and ready for use again in June 1864.
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