The South Australian Chronicle - Saturday, April 20, 1895

ENGLISH THEATRICAL NOTES.
[From our Special Correspondent.]
London, March 1, 1895.

According to the gossip of the coulisses there was within an ace of being an unrehearsed effect of a rather surprising character at the St. James's Theatre on the premiere of the "Importance of Being Earnest." The chief actor therein was the most noble the Marquis of Queensberry, who arrived about 9 carrying a huge bouquet of carrots, turnips, and onions, which he alleged he meant to lay at Mr. Oscar Wilde's feet at the end of the play. Meanwhile his lordship left his tribute in the cloakroom, saying he would come for it before the last act. Strange to say, in the interim the marquis's vegetable offering disappeared. On dit Mr Oscar Wilde heard what was intended and gave an attendant five pounds to steal it. The story, however, also goes that Lord Queensberry himself connived at the theft, and that he never really intended to do more than give Oscar a bad half hour of anticipation. That he achieved this those behind the scenes willingly testify. Between making a fool of others and being made a fool of oneself there is a sad difference, and the bigger the jester the smaller as a rule seems his capacity for taking a joke. Oscar lost his temper at the mere idea of Lord Queensberry scoring off him just as Whistler does when anyone pays him back in his own coin.