The Telegraph Book of the First World War by Gavin Fuller

Author:Gavin Fuller
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Aurum

26 September 1917

THEATRES AND THE RAID

Calm Audiences

Perhaps one of the most noteworthy features of Monday night’s raid was the coolness shown by playgoers, and the perfect sangfroid with which the artists accepted the situation. With the exception of two theatres, performances went steadily on, save for a temporary break while the firing was at its height. At the Savoy, Mr H. B. Irving decided that the most prudent step was not to raise the curtain at all, visitors who had previously booked seats being informed on their arrival that they could either have their money back or have seats for some other evening. At the Royalty a start was made as usual, but towards the end of the first act of Billeted Mr Dennis Eadie addressed the audience, stating that it was considered wiser to suspend operations, but that everyone would be welcome to remain under shelter until the conclusion of the raid. Of this offer practically all present were only too glad to take advantage.

Both at the Haymarket and the London Hippodrome the audience assembled at the customary hour. The curtain in each case remained down until twenty minutes past nine, however, after which things followed their normal course. Mr George Robey and Mr Albert de Courville, together with certain adventurous members of the Hippodrome company, profited by the delay in commencing to ascend to the roof, from which they enjoyed an unexpected view of a spectacle far surpassing in intensity anything they had themselves ever taken part in. Mr Robey, indeed, was so fascinated by the display that he allowed himself no time to change for his first entrance on the stage, appearing in his ordinary clothes with a shrapnel helmet on his head.

The Criterion, of course, being entirely underground, offers unique attractions to all seeking a refuge. As a matter of fact, very few in the auditorium on Monday night even knew that a raid was in progress, while the hospitality of the corridors was offered by the management to any who cared to make use of them. At His Majesty’s it was deemed advisable to suspend the performance of Chu Chin Chow for three-quarters of an hour, from 8.30 to 9.15, and practically no one left until the curtain fell shortly after 11.30. Very much the same thing happened at the Queen’s, where some of the occupants of the upper circles acted upon the management’s invitation to descend to the pit.

At the Lyceum an amusing little episode occurred. First there was a brief speech from the stage of a reassuring character, which was received with much applause, the audience remaining quietly seated until the sound of firing had died away. In the last act of Seven Days’ Leave a gun is supposed to be fired at an enemy submarine by a British destroyer, an effect produced by a resounding whack on the big drum in the orchestra. On Monday the result appeared to tickle the audience’s sense of humour immensely, being received with a burst of

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