... . SMOKING BEHIND THE SCENES. Sir,--The cause of the outbreak is unknown, but the loss is covered by insurance. This stereotyped paragraph coucluding an announcement that so-and-so theatre was entirely destroyed by fire last night. Most of the fires are caused by the pernicious habit of smoking in dressing rooms. Of what use are such notices as Smoking atrictly prohibited exhibited at ...

... . SOME OPEN LETTERS. II. To the Principal Boy. Dear Madam,--I have listened to your grievances for a long time, and my heart bleeds for you. Often in the early stages of our acquaintanceship I did you the injustice of doubting the sincerity of those grievances. I even went so far as to think that you had, to some extent, an ulterior motive in being fractious at rehearsals, and allowing your ...

... . GOVERNMENT ACTUARY CALLED IN. We have much pleasure in publishing the subjoined letter from Mr. Beerbohm Tree, the president of this society. We congratulate the members on the decision that has finally been come to. The fact of placing the affairs of the society in the hands of a Government actuary, and the further fact of calling a general meeting--the Press we assume, will bo invited ...

... . BAD BUSINESS IN THE PROVINCES. SIR,--Have not the public, the actors, and the managers heard about enough of this subject during the last year? It is always cropping up in THE STAGE:, and so is passed generally through all the local Presses. It even bobbed up serenely at Mr. Archer's lecture on An Ideal Theatre a few evenings ago. Would it not be honester if Mr. A., B., and other 41 ...

... . Wo have received the following letter from Mr. Charles Lyall, the late treasurer of tho Covent Garden Fund: To the Editor of Tht; Stagh. Sir, It is most surprising to read in your pnppr that the chief parties concerned in the attack upon our Thrift Society (which ca'.;sr>d the. c-onflfcn l ion of our pronerty with out trli> i) have nothing to do with, or any knowledge of, the di vision of ...

... Since this date, however, several papers in America, Australia, on tho Contineut, and in tho English provinces have lent their support to tho utterly unfounded rumour that tho novel Quo Vad s was responsible for the idea of the play The Sign of the Cross. To sot tho matter at rest once and for all, I communicated with M. Jasicnski, of Warsaw, in Russian Poland, anel from him I learned that M. ...

... BUSINESS IN THE PROVINCES. SIR,--Mr. Ben Greet assumes that in the provinces no bad actors, but only bad plays, exist. Casen, however, occur almost daily in which the cffcct of a continual thinning of provincial audiences is found to bo duo not to the quality of the play itseif, but to the quality of the acting of those engaged in it. The reason for this is not far. to seek. A proprietor oi ...

... DANGEROUS WOMEN. SIR,--Kindly permit me to defend myself in reply to the serious attack against my play, Dangerous Women, which appeared in your report of the Hull Licensing Committee in last week's STAGE. May I remind you, sir, that Dangerous W omin was produced at Brixton on August, 1, 1898. It was noticed favourably by The Stage and many of the leading London papers. Tho play proved a ...

... Sir, lie Mr. Ben Greet's remarks on the abovo subject in your last issue, I must fully endorse that gentleman's sentiments. I am convinced that tho provinces at the prosent tiino aro simply inundated with Bomo worthless productions, which natur ally make the patrons of the theatres verv wary before patronising the companies who havo tho misfortune to follow. I am speaking feelingly on this ...

... . Wc have received tho following letter on this fiubject. The writer of it has occupied a position which shonld entitle him to be particularly well informed on the relations of the Sick Fund to its Branch. Our in quiries, however, concerned both tho Fund aud its Branch To the Editor of The Staoe. Bin,-- Mr. Tree's letter, written, I am sure, with the best intention, is somewhat misleading. I ...

... PLAYS FROM NOVELS. Sir,--All playgoers must be interested in your discussion on dramatised novels. May I venture to suggest that the gist of the difficulty lies not simply in that slicing up of the novels which you mention, nor even in our dislike to seeing our dream-children translated into flesh and blood but in the utter faliure of the dramatist to cr, rry out tho author's :efithetic ...

... THE SIGN OF THE CROSS. Sir,--It having been spread abroad in the various countries where The Sign of the Cross has been played that the author, Mr. Wilson Barrett, had sought inspiration for his work from the novel entitled Quo Vadis, may I draw your attention to the following, which appeared in the Pall Mall Gazette of March 25, 1899:-- The rebutting: of a charge cf plagiarism gmT- *11 v ...