spite of most unsuitable surroundings, has a charming interior. This is the work of Mr. Rüntz, who does not figure as a distinguished theatrical architect, but as an architect in the best sense, who, among other important commissions, holds several for playhouses. His new playhouse at Peckham, the perspective of which is given on p. 186, promises, however, to show an architectural rendering of a higher order. He is bold enough to risk losing his theatrical client by giving us a building of some importance. Mr. Darbyshire, by the bye, has conceived

some excellent plans on true art lines in connection with the variety theatre, which we must not, however, refer to when speaking of the drama. Messrs. Collcutt, D'Oyly Carte, and Holloway similarly did excellent work at what is now the Palace Theatre of Varieties. But so far as the drama is concerned, the architectural rendering as a rule is quite nondescript.

Now, abroad, the architect of a playhouse has to be an architect in the very highest sense of the term-and very rightly so too. Where a municipal monument, the gift of a subscriber, or a Court or Government theatre has to be dealt with on the lines indicated, it is only natural that every effort should be made to obtain a good building; and even in the private theatre, as will be seen from the New Theatre at Berlin, the necessity for catering for people who take interest in architecture and respect the drama compels the architect to be something more than a mere constructor. For the building of a suitable home for the drama is one of the most difficult tasks that an architect can undertake, and calls for a man endowed with a pure and true spirit of the architectural vocation. His work demands. the largest share of real beauty, and the most careful blending of architecture, sculpture, and painting, whilst the complicated practical requirements are at the same time hostile to all

his efforts at perfection in design.

There is, in fact, no class of architectural work which puts forward more numerous, complex, and essentially technical demands, and requires at the same time that the rendering shall not fall below the highest standard of taste, than that of the theatre.

EXAMPLES OF PRIVATE THEATRES.

But now let us look at examples of playhouses erected under the different circumstances I have indicated. We will commence with the private theatre. But let us simply pass over the eyesores which have been erected in such numbers, and only take the very pick of what we have in private theatres in the Metropolis. Now there is no doubt that in the West

End the most recent playhouse, Her Majesty's, in the Haymarket, just referred to, is in a way immeasurably the best example of recent theatre architecture, both in plan and architectural rendering, and this is due, as I have said, to a great extent to the liberal spirit of the lessee, and also to the peculiar facilities of the site. In Her Majesty's Theatre the late Mr. Phipps surpassed all his former efforts, and furnished London with a playhouse so admirable in the arrangement that it will long be considered a model of its kind. And yet no one who does not recognise the posters and the lighting would point out this building as the home of the drama. Its exterior, excepting for its many doors, would be just as suitable for a suite of modern flats or an hotel. And in the interior, though we find many individual and pleasing features, but few are characteristic of a playhouse, nor does the decoration show breadth of design. All that the practical planner could have done has been done in this

building to fulfil the requirements of the management, with due regard to economy; but that is the greatest praise we can give it, and in that respect alone is it a model. To

a certain extent you could almost say the same of Daly's Theatre, in Cranbourne Street, which has many advantages of plan, construction, and equipment; but, again, it can surely not be considered as a suitable home for a revered art. Her Majesty's Theatre stands

head and shoulders above the other West End playhouses; Daly's comes next, then follow a certain number of playhouses which are somewhat above the average, like the Duke of York's Theatre, and the Shaftesbury, and the Lyric; but surely, none of these can in any way be confused with what we would term a suitable home for the drama. If we glance round the suburban theatres we find a similar state of affairs. No doubt we have many theatres practically planned, but one building alone is likely to stand out among its contemporaries, and that one which, as I have already indicated, is yet in course of construction.

I refer to the new Peckham Theatre[p. 186], designed by Mr. Rüntz, the architect of the New Theatre at Cambridge, which, as I have pointed out, stands far above the average provincial playhouse. The Wolverhampton Theatre of the late Mr. Phipps comes next, and though of broad conception in plan, I am afraid its architectural rendering makes it a bad second [p. 185]. After these examples of our private theatres, let us turn to the Continental playhouses, which are built under almost identical conditions, i.e. those of a financial enterprise, with the one exception, that the general public demand that the play should be suitably housed, and some attention paid to architecture. No doubt financial reasons also here compel the architect to limit his expenditure in the architectural rendering. But, in conception, in outline, and in planning, some of these buildings take a very high position, and even in their architectural treatment merit considerable attention. The New Theatre at Berlin, which only seats an audience of 800, is a good instance of a playhouse which has been placed on an awkward site, and yet in every way accords with the requirements of the drama. The Lessing Theatre, in the same city, is another instance; and so is the New Theatre at Munich.

.

Other instances can be cited; but as I have only selected the best examples of Metropolitan and provincial theatres in England, so do I limit myself to naming a few examples of the

first order from the Continent. Everywhere, however, both in England, where we have no demand for good architecture, and no reverence for the drama, and on the Continent, where both demand and reverence exist, it is evident, in the case of the private institution, that the architect is cramped, and this even where the excellence of his intention is obvious. In the rendering of a private theatre it seems impossible to give the building the full dignity it deserves with the limited funds of private enterprise.