WANT THE BEST

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 2, Issue 593, 26 July 1933, Page 3

WANT THE BEST

SYBIL THORNDIKE'S YIEWS ON DOMINION AUDIENCES. SECOND-(RATE COMPANIES. Are our Dominions happy- hunting grounds for British the'atrical companies who want to make little fortunes in a minimum of time ? This is a question often asked by actors and actresses on the London stage who are contemplating overseas tours. I have just completed my second big tour, and I will answer the question with an emphatic "No!" And it is :a very good thing for everyone — including Dominion playgoers — that there should be no further illusions on the subject, writes Dame Sybil Thorndike in the Daily Mail, Money — and, with luck, reasonably good money — there is to be made by first-class theatrical artists from England who offer of their best to Empire audiences. But let no West End actor or actress. who has been havinig j a lean time at Home imagine that i playgoers in South Africa, Australia or New Zealand are only waiting to pay their hard-earned money for indifferent fare which the London public has rejected.

The important thmg l nave aiscovered on this recent tour of mine is that hoth Australia and New Zealand are gradually but surely building up their own individual drama worlds — inspired to do so, no douht, by the visits they have had from British companies. Speedier circul'ation of talking pictures in the Dominions has helped considerahly, of course, to give playgoers there a correct appreciation of entertainment values. While there is still a certain amount of advance interest in- the announcement of visits from popular London players, it is no longer possible to find the local theatre ibooked up for a wcek or more ahead ^finply on the value of a "name." " You have to show what you can do first of all; and then, if you convince them that you are good, they are only too eager to come to see you. And, as an indication of how discriminating Australians and New Zealanders are hecoming in the matter of stage fare, I may mention that, of the many plays we took out, Shaw's "Saint Joan" was almost always the one most appreciated. This applied even to little totvns, not much more than villages, where our audiences comprised agricultural workers, many of whom had to travel miles to the theatre and who had had to make sacrifices to save the money for admission. Playgoers' Viewpoint. Time after time we were told hy members of the audience thau they were not interested in the type of puerile and out-of-date far'ee which so many touring companies had thought suitable for serving "up to them. "P'laygoing is a luxury to workers like us," was a typical remark, "and "wa are not going to spend good money on seeing childish stuff which we could do very much better ourselves." Where, I think, there does exist a fertile field for co-operation between the London and Dominion theatres is in individual British stars going out and giving seasons with supporting companies recruited from local talent. In this way the heavy expenses of transporting a large company thousands of miles is saved, the great goodwill of local audiences is gained— and, very often, as the combined qualities of a London trained star and the dependahle and ambitious young oaitists on the spot make up a betterbalanced performance for Dominion ■audiences than it is possible to achieve with a eompany of complete strangers. If British companies working on Empire theatrical tours 'give of their very best, realising from the heginning that they are catering for a playgoing public every bit as intelligent and critical as that in • Edinburgh, which sets the high-water mark for Britain, then they have every chance of finishing with a profit.