THE IRVINGS.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXII, Issue 21, 8 January 1912, Page 7

THE IRVINGS.

ACCORDED CIVIC WELCOME TO AUCKLAiN D. SHAKESPEARE AND HIS WORKS. V civic welcome was extended to Air H. B. Irving, tlic eminent Shakespearean actor, and Mrs Irving (Miss Dorothea Baird) at the Auckland Town Hall Chambers on Tuesday morning. There was a large attendance, and the entry of the guests, accompanied by the Mayor and Mayoress (Mr and Mrs C. J. Parr), Mr Bart Kent, Mr T. W. Leys, and two or three members of Air, Irving’s Company, was greeted with ; hearty applause. His Worship the Mayor said he f elt sure that the citizens of Auckland would join with him in extending a very hearty welcome to Air Irving and his distinguished wife. (Applause.) Mr Irving was not merely a distinguished Shakespearen actor, but he was also a barrister, an author, and a scholar. (Applause.) The Mayor expressed the fear that the prevailing vogue of lighter musical plays and operas had caused the more substantial drama to be relegated too much to the background. (.Applause.) Ho welcomed the visit of Mr Irving as an indication of a return to the sound class of drama which had so refreshed - New Zealand some years ago. (Loud applause.) He regretted that the schools wore in vacation, because Air Irving while in Australia had taken a special interest in visiting the schools and universities for the purpose of talking to the young people about Shakespeare. He hoped similar opportunities would arise in New Zealand. (Applause.) The speaker expressed the belief, that much of the time at present given in the secondary schools to the study of 5 Latin might be devoted with far more profit to the study, of Shakespeare, Milton, Burns, and (Tennyson. (Applause.) He hoped their guests would have a happy time in „ the Dominion. (Loud iipplatlSO.) ilfjj; ! • ; .! • Mr Bart Kent joined in the welcome as president of the Parnell Shakespearean Club, which, he said, had been in existence .for over 28 years. He could assure Air and Mrs Irving that they, had. come, to , a land which, although but 78 years - old - , was a land of song, of beautiful sunshine, of poetry, of reading, and was certainly a rising country in the wide ‘arena - of art. !(Applause.) be., ■ Air T. AV. Leys: - voiced a welcome as a representative'of the press, and on - behalf of then iPonsonby, Shakespeare Society. The Mayor had. said something about' lighter drama, and perhaps be had not given that species of popular recreation as meritorious a place as it deserved, because he thought a good deal could ho said for such pieces as “The .Chocolate Soldier” (Which had been mentioned). Still, the first place in drama must undoubtedly be given to those great classics which were not only the foundation of our line literature but were the common heritage of mankind. (Applause.) It was surprising to find the works of Shakespeare—who was not merely an Englishman, but a great genius of the human race.—appreciated as much or even more in Germany as - in England. _ The enduring federation of the British race rested upon its common history and its common literature; but we required not only a - great literature but great interpreters. (Applause.) It was therefore a privilege to have among us men of Mr Irving’s abilities as an interpreter of the human _ passions, which wore so deeply associated with the works of Shakespeare. (Loud applause.) Mr H. B. Irving on the Stags. Air Irving, who was received with prolonged applause, said he was sensible to the fact that an unusual honour was being done to himself and His wife, and he realised that tlie reason was perhaps due in some measure to the name he bore and to the memory of his father. (Applause.) It was a pleasing feature of Ids tour to find that memory so highly cherished. He thanked the Mayor and the citizens for their kindly reception, and for their apparent desire to give them what he might term an encouraging welcome. ('Applause.) He entirely agreed with what the Mayor had said about the theatre in Australia and Now Zealand having been overwhelmed in recent years by a preponderance of lighter works. It was therefore

necessary for the sounder drama to put forth all its efforts in sustaining interest. They must remember that drama was written not to he read but to be acted, and that as soon as it ceased to be acted it would cease to live. (Applause.) What with light comedies nowadays and what with pictures—(laughter)—in which plays like Romeo and Juliet were reduced to 40 minutes, he was surprised that there were left in Australia sufficient people to sit through a play of the more substantial order. (Laughter.) Ho wanted the theatre to do its utmost to remind the people that after all it had a high and noble purpose. (Hear, hear.) Just as there were good hooks and bad books, likewise grand and vile pictures, there were lino' plays and undesirable plays, and he would ask people to look at the theatre just as they would look at books and pictures. (Applause.) To those who were among tlie class of people who carried false ideas of the theatre to a very extraordinary extent. “Go to the theatre, see the class of play and judge yourselves whether it is had in the way you say it is.” Regarding an astonishing assertion that the sale of strong drink in theatres constituted their greatest attraction, he would say that the most popular theatres in England and Australia were those that did not hold a- license for the sale of such liquor. Regarding the future of the theatre in Australia and New Zealand, he behoved that it would he very different to the past and it was entirely in the hands of the people to make it so. (Applause.) He believed that in view of the support which had been given to Mr. Asche and himself in Australia, that the leading actors of the day would come out there, and it was probable that they would come to New Zealand, too. (Loud applause.) It had been td him a very great pleasure tr come hero and find so keen a desirt for drama, and especially for the drama of Shakespeare. Something had been said about the popularity ol Shakespeare,in Germany, but his impressings were that it would not he necessary for the Germans to take hall of Australasia in order to furnish these lands with a sufficient quantity of Shakespearean plays. Laughter am applause.) Shakespeare was a practical writer who wrote to keep himself alive —and the only reason why his works survived, while the finely-written plays of his contemporaries had died, was because Shakespeare understood the requirements of the stage. His greatest pride, if ho conk! but_ conic hack band review present conditions, would surely be that those plays which drew great audiences in his day wore drawing great audiences in our day, too. Applause.) As long as this continued and the virile works of those who were writing for tlie stage al the present time survived there was nc fear of decadence. It might he considered that they should say somethin'.' about Hamlet, but he would not sc impose himself—he was going to play Hamlet. “Personally,” said Air. Irving, “I would prefer an actor who played Hamlet and did not talk about him to an actor who talked about him and could not play him.” Laughter and applause.) Since coming out here he had learned of quantities of Hamlets,. many of which he had not known before. (Laughter.) However, he hoped that those who intended coming to hear him would go unfettered by anything be had said, or by anything others had said. They would he mote than happy, if they were able to do anything to make the play live on this side of the world, and he hoped their visit might he as pleasant to the people of New Zealand as it promised to he +o his wife and himself. (Prolonged applause.)