Show I IRISH THEATER AUDIENCES Hibernian Incidents of tho Drama That Have Become Classic How closely an Irish audience will 1 lake an actor into Its affections ha > been l shown conspicuously in many In stfinccsv but In none more convleingly tha In the case of the delightful John Lawrence roole who when he crossed the channel used to be dubbed OToole and converted for the none into an Irishman Of the towns approaching the first I importance h inealrically Waterford has an Interest of Its own Inasmuch as it I IK i the only municipal I i theater in the kingdom and In indeed part of the courthouse Jiow closely the stage on which mimic life Is I depicted approxi I mates to the scene where the most acute realities of I our existence are evolved may be judged by the fact that one day an actor who had been re hearsing In a comedy left the theater by one door and traversing a passage or two entered the court by another door and there he found a man being tried on a capital chaise Jf ever come dy trod on the heels of tragedy this certalnly I was a case in point e I Vhon nil is I said and done however I Dublin Is and long has been the lien l rical center of Interest which elusters especially round the Theater Koyal I r UifU stands on the site of the old the 1 ater of that name though the present i building was at one lime known as the I I Jeliister hajj JDuring recent year heit I however theiKoynl has been 1 pressed in this thmHl race fur popularity by the Gaiety The historian will tell you that Iho first t healer In Dublin wag erected In 163J by John Ogilby and James Shir I Joy i in Werburser irut rgel alreet but was shut by the Lords Justices es in I the excrcisr I of hull t discretion Jn JCC2 Slilrioyopened tho lIwrnlClt Al 1 Icy theater In what ir i now Esec I street and there among other famous I nclora John I Phlll Philip Kemblo appeared I I That house was once the scone of ns timunlrfj I a display of I versatility as was i ever vouchsafed to i an audience by l a I tragedian The i musicians struck as ovim musicInns will when after many i promise their salaries j remained S un I 1 unlcl J They declared they would play I no jrorp that cvonlnc unless they re I Ioelved some portion of their wage Be 5 1 J germ thon Ill play rnysolf said the i maias tiio notunlike the aetlny I I iniiiiujjU of odny was playing the I leadlw ptirL In Ollii > llo All made up j for the pdrt he left the stage went Into I I the orchestra took up a violin and i played the necessary music while ihp J I csirpcntcrs were Betting the scene after 1 V4 it I > T < d which he resumed his impersonation of I the noble Moor Irish wit is proverbial and In the theater as out of It its display has furnished fur-nished unrehearsed I sources of laugimtir and of interest not set down In tho b11lI oven to the detriment of the argument I of the play which was then behK considered con-sidered ono night two youths at tno back of the gallery Indulged in a free fight When they were parted one was dragged one way and the other borne on an ekvntcd plane of uplifted hands 1 1 was carried to a mac sitting in the front row nnd was held flusp ndodi over I the pit jn an Instant the audience I 1 I was hushed In patient or impatient expectation ex-pectation of his fall Suddenly the al I ienee was broken by a shout from the other side of the gallery Dont waste I him Pat kill a fiddler wid Mm Another night and the play ended with the disappearance of the evil I genius through the stage into the inferno I in-ferno to the accompaniment of red lire and slow music Unhappily something I happened to the trap and try as the I mea below would they could not get It to move and the actor stuck with I his h body half out of the yawning gulf Glory bo to heaven Mike cried a youth In an ecstasy of joy to his com i radc there is hop for us for the pSt < hell h Is full at last I Nor are modern audiences less d mon m-on LralIe than those composed of their forefather It was not so long ago when the Benson company was playing In j Dublin that Mr Bensort received tin altogether unexpected tribute to bin talent In a most startling fashion The sciiie was when Coriolamis comets on to Iho I 1 cltizrnsto ask for their vote SlId I d niy a huge cabbage thrown from the I gallery hurled through the air and foil I at his feet lie picked It up and gave It I to the hungry mob who t > orc It to pipces to discover within Its heart a groen sash with a pendent jewel It I was tIme offering of some cit ihushanti Shakespearean who had taken this I novel method of presenting it to thE actor When at the close of the act j Mr Benson appeared In front of tho curtain wearing time gift the applause I redoubled nnd for days people declaicd he actor had become a member of sonv seciot society London Sketch |