AustLit

Described in an Argus review as belonging to a 'familiar school which seeks... to portray the hopes and fears, the struggles and successes of the brave men [and presumably the women] of the back country,' the story concerns Jim Garron, his wife Lin, and her former suitor, Fred Tarrant, whose brooding over her rejection has caused him to become villainous. When he thinks he has discovered that Jim has kept secret another wife, Fred attempts to use this information both for his own gain and as revenge. In the end, however, it is proven that Jim's first wife is dead, and Lin, after recovering from the shock of having married a widower, forgives her husband. The critic further reports that 'when the secret comes out it is not so great a secret as the hair-pulling and the letter-twisting of the earlier parts of the production might suggest... the villain proves not so much of villain after all [while] the hero 'turns out to be less heroic than his well-fitting riding trousers and resolute eye might lead one to suppose' (7 March 1927, p20).

Mallory Cardell (not too well educated but good-natured) resides at her aunt Bedelia (Mrs Mac) McVicars' lodging house and falls in love with one of the guests, Ken Halloway (a young artist). Wopples, an elderly lawyer, arrives with the news that an old gentleman who was nursed by Mallory after an accident has died and left his fortune to her. Complications soon arise with the arrival of Ken's brother (who needs money to avoid being thrown in gaol) and Ken's former girlfriend, Carmen Roussel, who although having previously jilted him nevertheless influences him to borrow 500 pounds from Mallory to pay her gambling debts. When Mallory finds out the purpose of the loan she in turn jilts Ken. It is only after his rival Phillip Greyson attempts to persuade Mallory to go away with him that she realises how much she still loves Ken. The tangle is eventually straightened out and 'all's well that ends well.'

Much of the play's humour came through the character of Mrs Mac (Maggie Moore), the kind-hearted Irishwoman. Another character, Spike Mullins, an ungrammatical messenger boy who is also vainly in love with Mallory, also supplied a good deal of humour.

The story revolves around Cappy Caspero, the bush outlaw, a character described in the Sydney Morning Herald as 'a type of bush tramp who like many in the Australian bush has fallen from an honourable estate through misfortune. The review goes on to note : The incidents providing the groundwork of some good and fairly original dramatic situations arise out of Casper's association with Allan Wayburn, a mining magnate.' The other principle character is Kathleen Buller (a 'handsome young woman'), the adopted daughter of farmer John Buller. Her arrival as a young child coincided with Buller's wife being dangerously ill and subsequently Mrs Buller remains under the belief that Kathleen is her real daughter. When Wayburn's offer of marriage to Kathleen is rejected he coerces Caspero into making the claim that he is the girl's real father in the hope that she will accept the offer of marriage as an alternative to the life of an outcast. Kathleen is still in love with the currently absent Stephen Forsythe, however, and thus after deciding that she'd rather remain faithful to him she leaves her comfortable home for a life of poverty.' The Herald's theatre critic suggests that it is at this point that Howarde displays her 'inventive talent and efficiency' so that 'the audience are treated to some capital scenes, pathetic and funny in patches, and a happy finale' (19 March 1923, p5).

Romantic comedy.

The most popular and most often revived of Kate Howarde's original plays, Possum Paddock was written in the tradition of homely bush comedies established a few years previous by Steele Rudd (author) and Bert Bailey (dramatist), albeit with more of a romantic angle than On Our Selection.

Set on a fifty acre paddock belonging to Andrew McQuade, the first act revolves around his family's struggle to retain their land given that it is to be sold to pay outstanding debts. To make matters worse McQuade's cantankerous neighbour and rival, Dan Martin, is set on purchasing it once it comes up for auction. The arrival of Mrs McQuade's wealthy city cousin, Nella Carsely, who has come to the country for a visit following the death of her husband, sees the property saved, however, when she outbids Martin at the auction. It is later revealed that a railroad is to be built through the property and that this will greatly increase its value.

The remainder of the play focuses on various romantic entanglements, wherein McQuade's two sons fall for Martin's two daughters, much to the chagrin of both fathers'. Martin's spinster sister also finds love after a riding accident forces her to recuperate at the McQuades and she meets the affable rouseabout Shad. Meanwhile McQuade's daughter, Nancy, who has just returned from school in the city finds herself being pursued by an unscrupulous stock inspector, Fred Deering. Although she unwittingly agrees to elope with him Deering's plan is thwarted when Nella tricks him into admitting, within earshot of the Nancy, that he is only interested in the money she is to inherit from her deceased uncle. In the last act things turn out for the better when the railroad is finally built and Nancy finds true love in the arms of new chum Englishman. She in turn finds a suitable match for her aunt in the shape of a good-hearted young selector.

The synopsis of scenes, as published in the Brisbane Courier is : Act 1. The McQuade Homestead ; The Family Find ; The Auction Scene ; The Rich Widow from the City. Act 2. The Great Tea Party ; The Buggy Accident ; Bill's New Boots. Act 3. Dad Discourses on the Proposed Railroad ; Putting One Over on Shad ; Bill Proposes. Act 4. Getting Ready for the Dance ; Hugh Bracken Returns ; What the Conservatory Held ; The Great Dance (21 February 1920, p2).

The 1932 revival saw the song, 'Silver Threads Among the Gold' performed in the second act by Jean Argyle.

This production is set on the deck of a boat in Sydney Harbour, with most of the male characters dressed in naval uniforms. The narrative includes a courtroom scene, in which a prisoner is being tried by a magistrate. Elton Black is also said to have incorporated an impersonation of Scottish comedian Harry Lauder into his role. The storyline had a strong patriotic sensibility, particularly in songs such as 'Our Boys' and 'Australia will lend a Hand.'

With regard to the storyline, a review in the Theatre Magazine records that 'the performers come on - and disappear - in such a way as to suggest the development of a story. But it is ... only the slenderest attempt that is made in the way of connecting things up' (September 1915, p.45).

'Calling on a friendly visit to a chance friend, a helpless tool of the inhumane procuror, the girl is trapped and disappears, with her lover and his friends hot on her trail. Feigning madness in the harem of Abru Pahlan, the "white slave" drops her subterfuge for a fatal moment, and is in deadly peril when Carston, with her brother and Bertie Blair, arrive with break-neck speed. The final scene is a reunion on Circular Quay, when the arrival of a stage liner gives a touch of effective realism.

'The leading couple were well matched — the one in the passionate disclosing of a masked love, when his sweetheart was in peril; the other in phases both tragic and merry. Little Joyce Dench's role was brief, almost unnoticeable. Mr. Elton Black and Grace Doran were the comedy couple, and the mirth they raised was uproarious.'

Source: 'Kate Howarde Co.,' Kalgoorlie Miner, 30 November 1914, p.4.

'The story is one of a pretty daughter, her lover, and a drunken and cruel father. The girl runs away and marries her lover, but then meets with adversities at the hands of an arch villain, with the result that the couple are separated, and driven to distraction the girl contemplates suicide by throwing herself into the Thames. The villain throws the mother's body into the river, and just in time the husband and wife are again united' (The Evening Star (Boulder, WA: 1898-1921), 24 November 1914, p.2). 

A publicity blurb published in the Weston Champion (Parkes, New South Wales) in 1912 describes Why Girls Leave Home as 'full of thrilling situations, interspersed with plenty of comedy' (8 March 1912, p.14).

Melodrama.

In its review of the 1904 Perth production of When the Tide Rises, the West Australian records : 'The thrilling series of occurrences contingent upon the rising of the tide, as seen through strong dramatic spectacles at the Theatre Royal on Saturday night, should be sufficient to hold an audience spellbound for hours, provided it be an audience that loves highly-spiced melodrama and is not too exacting in the matter of probabilities and facts. The author... has helped [herself] to liberal supplies of all the elements of sensation - a detective, a profligate, a gentleman burglar, a treacherous innkeeper, a drugged drink, a midnight tragedy and a beautiful girl or two - and in four moving acts [she] sounds some of the worst depths of passion and the most dazzling heights of heroism and devotion. The strongest and most reprehensible character in the piece, one Ison [Albert Lucas, is] a sort of king of thieves, who has his counterpart in the bete noire of Sherlock Holmes... Miss Howarde herself contrived under the difficulties imposed in the interpretation of a dumb girl's part, to bring some of her vivacious personality into the piece, and Miss Nellie Dalton gave a faithful picture of a distressed wife. Humour was supplied by Mr Elton Black, who as Larry Larkspur, contrived with the help of Miss Violet Beard, as Tilly Andrews, to impart a much-needed laugh into a piece otherwise far too strenuous for a hot night in Perth' (19 December 1904, p5).

According to advertising in Brisbane Courier in 1925 the play comprised four acts, these being : Act 1. Zach Ison's Retreat ; Back from the Races ; The Robbery ; The Creeping Waters ; The Ebb Tide ; Act 2. The Horse ; Sorrow ; What the Cellar Held ; The Tide Rising ; Act 3. The Gardens ; The Dumb Decoy ; The Assignation ; The Tide Risen ; Act 4. The Secret Discovered ; The Tide Turns ; Happiness and Reunion (7 November 1925, p2).

Howarde's musical adaptation of Rudyard Kipling's (q.v.) poem into song was possibly first performed in January 1900, almost a year before Arthur Sullivan's more famous version. When she performed it again in Brisbane later the same year, it was advertised thus: 'Come and hear the latest version of "The Absent-minded Beggar." Written and sung by Miss Kate Howarde. Was received with the wildest enthusiasm. Monday's Courier' (Brisbane Courier 23 May 1900, p.2).

Although the authorship of this second-part burlesque has not been established (as is the situation with other productions then being included in the Kate Howarde Pantomime and Burlesque Company tour), advertising and reviews indicate that the songs and comic business included a good deal of both new and original material.

The story, which is loosely based on Fra Diavolo; Ou, L'hôtellerie de Terracine (Fra Diavolo; Or, The Inn of Terracina), an opera comique by French composer Daniel-François-Esprit Auber and librettist Eugène Scribe (1830), concerns Neapolitan guerilla leader Michele Pezza, who was active in southern Italy around 1800-1806. Pezza was known by the name Fra Diavolo, meaning 'Brother Devil.' In reviewing Howarde's production, the Brisbane Courier critic writes, '[Diavolo Up-To-Date] certainly [contains] very little of the opera; there was the merest outline. Still that is not expected in an openly confessed burlesque' (10 January 1898, p.6).

Songs known to have been incorporated into the production were 'Dreaming as She Sleeps' (sung by the Countess), and 'I Fear No Foe' and the duet 'Funiculi, Funicula' (both sung by the brigands).

In reviewing the 1897 Brisbane season, the Brisbane Courier records that were it not 'for the enterprise of Miss Kate Howarde there would probably have been no pantomime this year... [and] the public appreciation was manifested by the presence of an audience which literally crowded the Gaiety Theatre to the doors. Many people were unable to obtain seats.'

In relation to the production itself, the critic writes:

'The ordinary book of the pantomime was enlivened by various local allusions, which, if in one or two instances of a rather personal character, were on the whole, pointed and effective. The allusion, for instance, to the delay in the wood paving at once struck home, and in one or two references to the Merkara case, excited the risible faculties of the audience. Taken altogether, [however], the book was not as smartly local as it might have been, but that could hardly have been expected with a company so new to town and so unfamiliar with its most salient questions' (28 December 1897, p.5).

The 1899 version comprised the following scenes:

Act 1:Scene 1. Under the Sea;

Scene 2. Port of Cadiz.

Act 2: Scene 1. Wreck of the Hesperis;

Scene 2. Diamond Valley.

Act 3: A Nautical Tableaux of Great Britain and America,

Transformation Scene; and

Harlequinade.

Songs known to have been presented within the 1897 production were 'Sinbad, Don't You Go to Sea' and 'Mary Ann Maginty' (performed by Kate Howarde) and 'Bedouin Love Song' (Arthur Hunter).

The 1899 production included 'The Carnival' and 'I Was Dreaming' (sung by Violet Bertram), 'Only Once More' (Dorothy L'Estrange), 'I Want You Ma Honey' (Myra James), 'Sons of the Sea' and 'Soldiers of the Queen' (Arthur Hunter), 'If I hadn't Been So Shy' (Sydney Carden) and 'The Dandy Fifth' (Minnie Shipp, Therese Leoni, and Myra James).