THE SCREEN AND THE STAGE

Press, Volume LXXI, Issue 21413, 4 March 1935, Page 10

THE SCREEN AND THE STAGE

♦ Methods of Acting Discussed MR GEORGE THIRLWELL'S VIEWS '•I should very much like to stay here and take part in good plays, were it not for the fact that I have to rejoin Sir John Maftin Harvey's company in London," said Mr George Thirlwell, the actor playing the lead in "Ten Minute Alibi" at the Theatre Royal, when interviewed yesterday. Mr Thirlwell was greatly pleased with the magnificent reception given by the Christchurch audience at the company's first appearance on Saturday night. Having played in London, he was able to compare the receptions given by Australian and New Zealand audiences with those given in England. He found audiences here no less quick in grasping subtleties of inflection and meaning and very enthusiastic in their appreciation.

" 'Ten Minute Alibi' is back again at the Comedy Theatre in London, its third West End run. and the third year it has been played. Altogether about 600 performances have been given m London, while we are celebrating our two hundred and fiftieth performance on Tuesday. It is one of the most successful plays of its kind ever written. Intimate plays such as this, with small casts and few sets, are often successful in one country and With one cast, but rarely so in another country and with another cast." Mr Thirlwell also spoke highly of "The Wind and the Rain," written by Dr. Merton Hodge, a New Zealander and to be played here by the company. It had been played in London, Germany. America, and Vienna. The author had also translated "Men in White" into English, and it had been played in New York and London His latest play was "Grief Goes Over," and he was waiting till Auriol Lee, who had produced "The Wind and the Rain," had returned from New York to produce it. She was the best woman producer in the English-speaking world and had gone to New York to produce "The Flowers of the Forest," by John Van Druten. Mr Thirlwell was well acquainted with Mr Van Druten: he had been anxious to play in his "After All" for the J. C. Williamson Company, especially as scarcely any of 'his plays had been seen here. Sir John Martin Harvey, whom Mr Thirlwell will rejoin after a brief return Australian season, produced a big repertoire of old plays and period productions with large crowds and many settings. He also

produced Shakespearean plays, and was about to embark on a tour of England and Canada, his last before retirement. "Type" Acting not the Best "A member of Sir John Martin Harvey's company," said Mr Thirlwell, "finds it necessary to play parts to which he is physically unsuited as well as parts to which he seems naturally adapted. 'Type' acting is entirely unknown to a great artist such as Sir .John. Where six or seven plays are performed in a week, one generally finds that one has to approach the parts one is playing as definite characters. An actor can be cast according to type when there are many players to choose from, but many g v eat artists are at their best in roles to which they are unsuited offstage. They must of necessity reach nearer to true art than those who succeed in parts like their own characters. In casting a talkie, of course, it is desirable to have perfect types in order to minimise the acting needed." Mr Thirlwell compared the "type" actor with a young .pianist who had learnt to play by ear, and then, after a momentary triumph, found it difficult to learn the rudiments so as to give an honest performance of the music as he knew it should be played. It was like learning to run before walking, easy, but fatal in after life! What was termed the "modern school" of acting was the outcome of casting young men and women in parts in which they could not

very well go wrong, providing thev had some ability and experience. But actually all real acting belonged to no particular period and could not be classed as "modern" or "oldfashioned"—as in all branches of art. Plays and the Talkies "My first introduction to the talkies was in a part played with Grade Fields," said Mr Thirlwell He added that he afterwards played with Sir John Martin Harvey in an adaptation of "The Lyons Mail," in "The Little Napoleon," in "Laughter of Fools," with Pat Pattison, who is now in Hollywood, in "Chinese Bungalow," with Matheson Lang, and in the Gaumont-British production, "Sailors Don't Care." "But I don't like making talkies (allowing for my limited experience) nearly as much as legitimate plays," said Mr Thirlwell. The number of times scenes were reshot, apart from rehearsals, was very trying. The actor could not gauge how he had acted nor what the effect was till he saw the film in the projection room the same night. Then he wished he had the chance to act it all over again. Mr Thirlwell said there was no doubt that there is and will be a great public for a good play in New Zealand. The public, of course, was used to talkies, and business men recognised the grave risk of bringing out a company, compared with the certainty of the talkie. An exception was a tour like the ; .-esent one, where two magnificent plays were presented by small casts and with one set each. In England cinemas were now showing plays again, and in the provinces people were demanding both talkies and plays. "The talkies have been a very good thing in that they have raised the standard of the 'touring show ' " Mr Thirlwell said. "The public now pay more attention to detail and are more critical than they used to be. The second best won't do." Shakespeare was still being played

.fairly consistently. "Every now and then somebody comes forward and gives a perfectly lovely performance of Shakespeare. It does not, however, always meet with the financial success that John Gielgud's 'Hamlet' has met with." Mr Thirlwell played the part of Roderigo in a spectacular production of "Hamlet'' two years ago.