RETURN OF ALLAN WILKIE, C.B.E.

Evening Star, Issue 20137, 30 March 1929, Page 11

RETURN OF ALLAN WILKIE, C.B.E.

SEASON OPENS TO-NIGHT Mr Wilkio, who is to-day the loremost exponent of Shakespearean drama, opens a season to-night at His Majesty s Theatre, and, true to Jiis promise made when last here, he is presenting several new plays. To-night, suitable tor the holiday mood that hilarious comedy, ‘ The ‘Merry Wives of Windsor ’ will ho staged—Mr Wilkio appearing as that figure of fun, two yams in girth, Sir John Falstaff—a role that vies with Don Quixote for the premier comic characters in literature. ( In the farcical situations of the Merry Wives,’ Falstaff is seen first tumbled into a basket of dirty linen to make his escape from the jealous husband Ford, then beaten as a witch, and lastly pinched and burned by the fairies in Windsor Forest. Miss Hunter-Watts, who for many years lias endeared herself to the hearts of New Zealand audiences, will play the roguish Mistress Ford, and Miss Lorna Forbes is to bo her partner in fun— Mistress Page. Mr Wilkie introduces Alexander Marsh in the character of Master Ford, and one of onr own, Miss Hilda Scurr, will make her debut as Mrs Quickly. New plays for production during the season, besides many old favourites, are ‘ Coriolanus,’ ‘ Much Ado About Nothing,’ ‘ All’s Well That Ends Well,’ ‘King Lear,’ and ‘Henry V.’ Mr Wilkie is assured of a great welcome.