ANTI-NAZI PLAY

Evening Post, Volume CXII, Issue 35, 10 August 1936, Page 8

ANTI-NAZI PLAY

PERFORMANCE BANNED

N.S.W. MINISTER'S ORDER

From "The Post's" Representative.)

SYDNEY, July 30,

A controversy that may lead to a political "rumpus" and certainly to court proceedings followed the banning by the Chief Secretary (Mr. Chaffey) of the anti-Nazi play, "Till the Day I Die." Police descended on the Savoy Theatre, where the New Theatre League, an amateur organisation, was about to stage the play, and delivered Mr. Chaffey's prohibition order.

The ban followed protests by the German Consul-General (Dr. Asmis) presumably at scenes in which Nazi storm troopers are represented as hectoring, ignorant, sadists, and in which there are ironical tilts at Hitler.

In the middle of scene I a voice said, "Open the door. Secret Police here." The door opened and a policeman walked across the stage. The audience did not realise until later that he was a real policeman. Several players dressed as Brown Shirts rushed on to the stage. One raised his hand and shouted. "We have had police interference at the rear of the stage. We came to put this play on. We will continue if you will listen. Will the audience stapd by us" After a chorus of "Yes" from'the hall the stage was cleared. The police left the wings, and the play went on.

Mr. Chaffey announced that prosecutions would take place under the Theatres and Public Halls Act. He stated that he had fulfilled his duty to protect the people from anything which incited them to violence. He had not read the play, but had received information about it from several sources.

Mr. V. Arnold, secretary of the New Theatre League, said that the play, which was by Clifford Odet, a young American, disparaged and protested against violence. "The German Con-sul-General objects to the play; other people will object to the reality behind the play. It is a healthy thing for Australians to realise that all countries are not democracies. Odet's play shows this. The apparent sympathy between the sensitivity of Nazis and^ the action taken by the police is the most disturbing feature of the whole matter. If censorship in Australia is to be carried out at the instigation of foreign-countries, we may soon expect a protest from the Danish Consul on the play 'Hamlet,' because it represents the Danes as murderers and drunkards. Odet's play has been freely performed in America and England, and. has attracted favourable comment, not only for its faithful representation of certain aspects of the Nazi regime, but for its inherent dramatic qualities. The play sealed Odet's reputation as a dramatist. Its subject matter was based on documentary evidence of German conditions, but the play itself was not anti-Ger-man. It was anti-Nazi."

Protests were made by individuals and literary and dramatic societies against the Chief Secretary's ban as a "gross infringement of the cultural liberties of democracy," as a "senseless act of semi-barbarism."

The New Theatre League decided to give a private performance of the play in its own club rooms, accommodating 200 persons. • Mr. Chaffey was invited to be among the 200, but found that he had an engagement of a "long-standing nature."