The Sleeping Beauty of 1895

Tasmanian Letter,

Hobart, September 13.

The children's performance of the "Sleeping Beauty " at the Theatre Royal on Wednesday was a great success. It was given in aid of local charities, and the little folk have been rehearsing, under the direction of Mrs. Benson and Mrs. Henry Dobson for months, indeed, rehearsal, costumes, tinsel, and gauze wings have filled the minds and kept mothers busy for weeks and weeks, and it must be quite a relief now that all is over and has succeeded so well…. Mrs. Benson and Mrs. Dobson had drilled the fifty or sixty children into acting and acting well…. I admired Miss W. Hardy, the wicked fairy, most. She wore a crimson net frock, very short, with crimson lace underskirts, crimson stockings, satin shoes, and huge crimson gauze wings, and carried a golden wand. It was a very clever get-up and everything matched beautifully. Miss Beryl Benson made a charming Princess and sang and danced her minuet very well….

You will think we begin very early in Tasmania when I assure you that a wee boy of 3, stood by the footlights, and clad in garments that must have puzzled him—pink trunk, hose, and doublet—sang a couple of verses in a clear, tuneful voice, taking a long breath, and going for the last high note in the most amusing way. The house simply "rose at him," and he ran back and perched himself on the king's knee till we had stopped applauding, and then did it once more. His mother, Mrs. Benson, is one of our chief amateurs, and I could not but expect that this tiny blue-eyed morsel, with his long flaxen curls, will be heard of by-and-bye.