DRAMA FESTIVAL SUCCESS

Evening Post, Volume CXXXVI, Issue 57, 4 September 1943, Page 5

DRAMA FESTIVAL SUCCESS

Ten teams of players took part in the festival of the British Drama League, New Zealand branch, held at the Tin Hat Club Hall. They were all young players, but showed remarkable enthusiasm and, to quote the adjudicator, Mrs. Elsie Lloyd, it was noticeable that there were some very good voices among the players and some talent for character acting. The acting varied—sometimes it was good and sometimes it lapsed to fairly good. As far as production was concerned, most of it was better than the actual acting, though she felt perhaps in some cases the producer might have obtained more from the players. There were in most cases definite attempts at proper lighting, which meant that dramatic work was progressing, and she commended the fact that producers had tried to interpret the desire of the playwright. Mrs. Lloyd made helpful comments on each play. Incidentally, she emphasised the need for a civic theatre. Plays presented last night were "Mrs. Methuselah," by the Waterloo Fabians' Dramatic Society; According to Plan," by! the Unity Theatre; and the winning item in the one-act playwriting competition, "Dead Love," written by Mrs. Audrey B. King, Wellington, played by the Karori Plunket Readers. Mr. A. S. Farquhar, president of the Wellington area of the league, who acted as chairman, announced the winners, and certificates were presented by Mrs. E. G. Coleridge, president of the Wellington Repertory Theatre. The Sir Michael Myers Cup for the best performance was won by the Waterloo Fabians' Dramatic Society with "Mrs. Methuselah" (Philip Johnson), produced by Mns. P. Dowse. Mrs. King's play gained the "Dairy Exporter" Cup award. Two plays came second, "Last Minute Bride," by Mrs. Una Craig, Epsom, Auckland, and "Cloud Burst," by Miss Koran Slaney, Wellington. Highly commended were "Husks to Offer," by Miss Violet Spurling, Auckland; "The Fur Coat," by Mrs. Culford Bell, Wellington; "Queen Carnival," -by Miss Jean Mather, Wellington; "The Wings of an Eagle," by Mary Melville, Auckland; and "The Real Betrayal," by Mrs. Isobel Andrews, Wellington.