162
* 12
actors On the occasion of a performance of Buckingham's Take that Girl Away and Selby's A Fearful Tragedy in the Seven Dials, on February 15 1860 it was observed that "the weak point of our Amateurs has been the selection of their pieces".1 From time to time this argument crops up; but, as with all opinions about the theatre, it was a matter of taste. A regular writer for the Herald, "The Man on the Bund", had the audacity to react adversely to the choice of Tom Taylor's Still Waters Run Deep, performed on April 23 1857, which he thought "one of those incongruous mixtures of French novel morality and English domestic life as offensive and preposterous as ludicrous". In a letter to the Editor "Another Man on the Bund" (!) was furious about this attitude: "Are we to take the opinion of this would be critic, this damp orator, in preference to the unanimous opinion of the rest of the community? What meant those thunders of applause repeated again and again in a manner that has never been heard in Shanghai. (...) My own and the general opinion is that the 'Man on the Bund' at the time of writing was (...) labouring under a severe attack of bile (...) (see also Calendar, 23.4.1857).
14
In quite a different vein, writing about Colman's Heir at Law (1797) and Townley's High Life below Stairs (1759) the chronicler “would recommend our Amateurs to expunge from their plays all profane oaths and ambiguous phrases. In the time they were written too many of them were in keeping with the language and manners of the day, but nowadays no Gentleman would sully his breath with such irreverent epithets; they neither add wit or point to the dialogue and grate harshly on all refined ears especially in the presence of ladies".2 Of course no examples were given.
When it came to the professional, travelling, companies a generally favourable attitude was maintained. "Standards of excellence" were kept up by Lewis' Australian Drama Company;3 and, discussing the 1865 performances, another critic thought that "where so much talent is shown it is almost invidious to single out any one actor or actress in preference to the rest".
18
In the musical field the efforts of the amateurs, although they were less numerous than in dramatics, were also duly appreciated. About a concert in aid of the Lancashire Relief Fund, given on April 17 1863, the Herald thought "it was pleasing to see the gentlemen (...) entertain con amore their less gifted fellow residents with a charming chamber
162
* 12
actors On the occasion of a performance of Buckingham's Take that Girl Away and Selby's A Fearful Tragedy in the Seven Dials, on February 15 1860 it was observed that "the weak point of our Amateurs has been the selection of their pieces"." From time to time this argument crops up; but, as with all opinions about the theatre, it was a matter of taste. A regular writer for the Herald, "The Man on the Bund", had the audacity to react adversely to the choice of Tom Taylor's Still Waters Run Deep, performed on April 23 1857, which he thought "one of those incongruous mixtures of French novel morality and English domestic life as offensive and preposterous as ludicrous". In a letter to the Editor "Another Man on the Bund" (!) was furious about this attitude: "Are we to take the opinion of this would be critic, this damp orator, in preference to the unanimous opinion of the rest of the community? What meant those thunders of applause repeated again and again in a manner that has never been heard in Shanghai. (...) My own and the general opinion is that the 'Man on the Bund' at the time of writing was (...) labouring under a severe attack of bile (...) (see also Calendar, 23.4.1857).
14
In quite a different vein, writing about Colman's Heir at Law (1797) and Townley's High Life below Stairs (1759) the chronicler “would recommend our Amateurs to expunge from their plays all profane oaths and ambiguous phrases. In the time they were written too many of them were in keeping with the language and manners of the day, but nowadays no Gentleman would sully his breath with such irreverent epithets; they neither add wit or point to the dialogue and grate harshly on all refined ears especially in the presence of ladies"." Of course no examples were given.
When it came to the professional, travelling, companies a generally favourable attitude was maintained. "Standards of excellence" were kept up by Lewis' Australian Drama Company;" and, discussing the 1865 performances, another critic thought that "where so much talent is shown it is almost invidious to single out any one actor or actress in preference to the rest".|
18
In the musical field the efforts of the amateurs, although they were less numerous than in dramatics, were also duly appreciated. About a concert in aid of the Lancashire Relief Fund, given on April 17 1863, the Herald thought "it was pleasing to see the gentlemen (...) entertain con amore their less gifted fellow residents with a charming chamber
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