THE AMATEUR STAGE.

Hokitika Guardian, 19 September 1927, Page 1

THE AMATEUR STAGE.

There was a time when the very phrase 11 Amateur Theatricals ” was the cue for a. groan or a giggle! That time is past. Most people who are at all interested in the theatre are beginning to realise that in the Amateur Stage we have the best possible “nursery ” for actors, dramatists, critics, and audiences. You will, almost always. §ml, in a general discussion of tlie drama, tliat tbe man who can give the soundest criticism of acting and the most enthusiastic appreciation of its subtleties is the men who is liimseff a keen amateur; and many of the foremost dramatists of to-dnv have “learned their job ” by trying out their plays in various barns and halls and “ Little Theatres.” T was in New York when the famous New York Theatre Guildnow one of the richest and most powerful theatrical organisations in America —was formed ; it started as an amateur company; two amateur actresses, an amateur dramatist, and a few young journalists, in a small hall in a suburban street. —Catldeen Nesbitt in “ The Amateur Stage.”