W.I. DRAMA FESTIVAL

Chronicle (Levin), 12 June 1946, Page 4

W.I. DRAMA FESTIVAL

LARGE AUDIENCE SEES THREE PLAYS ADJUDICATOR'S CRITICISM "The people of Nbw Ze'aiartd dWe it to the Wbmen's Institutes for, keeping the cultural force bf drama | ■alive in New Zealand," said Mrs. 1 Judith Terry, of Auckland, when! replying to a weicome by the bhssi- j dent of the Southern Wellington ! Federation, of Woiiien's Institutes* j Mrs. H. S. Poweil, at the first night 1 df •the federatipn's anfiual df ama | festival, in the Hordwhehua Cdilege i Hall last evening. Mrs. Terry is, acting as adjudicator fdr the. festi- j Val, a position for which she is weil i suited, having had experience bothj as a pfbfessibhai player and critic. [ The hall was almost filled by an; ehthiisiastic and appreciative audience, aaid the standard of the plays j presehted was a credit for those j taking part. In welcoming those present, the president, Mrs. Poweil, .said the fes- . tival would be the last during hbr ' term of office. Shb thafiked the ■ public for their loyal support bver; the years, and proposed special vbtes of thanks to all thbse Whb had . assisted in making the festivais a s'uccess — the College Advisory Com- ; mittee for the use of the hall, Mr. Clarke, Miss H. E. Bowen, the Levin i Playreaders, Mr. K. A. Bowater arid ! his assistants, and otherg who had j assisted in some way. Mrs. Ptiwell j then introduced Mrs. Terry, saying that when the festival was con-; cluded a drama school would be ' conducted by her. The federationj was indeed fortunate in having! such a person to act as adjudicator. j In reply, Mrs. Terry asked the players not to be "afraid" of her,; but to be sincefe in their acting. j She loved the stage/ and hoped that the Governments of the future ! would use the Women's Institutes as j dn advance to drama in New Zea- j land, thrbUgh the schdols. Drama i was an art which. empioyed all the other arts, hence its great value."

"The Late Miss-Cordell" . The first play presented.was "The Late Miss Cordell," a drama, and it was produced by Mrs. Poweil for the Levin W.l. The scene was laid ih the drawing room of a house situated on the esplanade of a Devon sea-side town. The cast was as follows: — "Miss Simpson," Mrs. J. Perigo; "Miss Harriet Bowd," Mrs. C. Nichol; "Mrs. RhodU Woolbrook," Mrs. K. Kirkcaldie; "Mrs. Jane Sidbury," Mrs. A. J. Black; "Bessie," Mrs. K. Bowater; "Mr. Budleigh" (a lawyerj, Mr. A. W. Parton. In her criticism, Mrs. Terry said that the peri'ormanee was most dnjoyable, and a good choice. There

was an unfortunate tendency for the players to catch edch dthbr's vocal note, thus losing the pace ahd , rhythm of the play. More contrast i of Vdices was needed. The climax] did not quite "hit them in the eye," j as it should have done. She was | ; impressed with Harriet, although I not quite loud enough. Mrs. Simpson I carried a difficult part through well. Jane had grace, artistry* ahd a good voice. Rhoda waS- ari excellent "thorny rose." Mr. Budleigh filled- his part very weli. It was not generally known that there was nothing to stop institutes Using men in their plays. "Hullabaloo" "Hullabaloo," a comedy, was the next presentation, staged by the Te Horo W.l. and produced by Mrs. Grant. The scene was a servants' sitting room on a winter's evening. The cast was: — "Cook," Mrs. Muriel Speirs; "Ella," Miss Betty Hooper; "Iris," Miss Lilian Verrant; "Ivy," 'Miss Hazel Speirs; "Melanife," Miss jMargaret Brook; "Janet," Miss Betrice Catley; "Marion," Miss Lilian Fuller. Unfortunately one of the playefs, Miss Vefrant, was indisposed and her part was read bv the prompter. Commenting on the performance, the adjudicator criticised the appearance of the kitchen staff. It was difficult for New Zealand women to visualise accurateiy the most definite line of demarcation between servants and employers in the English household. Another point was the pedantic form of speech adopted by some of the players; pronouncing "of" and "was" as they were written, instead of as "iv" or "wiz." (Dtherwise, thb play was most enjoyable. "All On A Summer's Day" i The Levin W.l. presehted the last play of the session, "All On A Summer's Day," which was produced by Mrs. Poweil. The cast was: — "Emily Finch," Miss Beth Blenkhorn; "Patience" (her daughter), Miss Moya Poweil; "fCdte Allway" (Emily's sister), Mrs. J. Boland; "Miss Jane Mallows" (the village gossip), Mrs. C. Nichol; "Grandma denkins," Mrsr- K. Bowater; "Bridget""(the maid), Miss Dorothy Johnson. Mrs. Terry .said that the players were handicapped by the fact that they had taken a play set in another period, with old dialogue, and staging it as in modern times. The costumes were at f&ult; with Women's Institutes more improvisation should be expected.' Patience and Grandma were excellent. Emily Finch possessed a quality which was lacking in other players — reiaxation. Miss Mallows and Bridget also carried their parts well. Mrs. Terry emphasised the importahce of attack; tlie attention of the audience shoiild be fixed immediately. If this was done half the battle was won.i The play was also lacking in other effects, shch as noises, which would suggest liffe going on off thfe stage. However, the performance had shown careful production. A further ^fefesidh Wiii be hfeld at Otaki to-night, and the festival concludes at Levin on Friday evening,