PLAYER IN “TABLOIDS”

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 306, 17 March 1928, Page 24

PLAYER IN “TABLOIDS”

In the Dunsany play “If,” Mr. F. E. McCallum, a very hard worker in the ranks of the Auckland Little Theatre Society, will play the part of an old Persian who attaches himself to the hero of the play and follows him with great devotion, ultimately saving his life. The wonderful dialogue Lord Dunsany has put into the lips of this character is delightful to Mr. McCallum. Although jt will be the case of a very young man playing the part of a very old one, the supporters of the society look forward with confidence to an excellent performance. Mr. Montague Steele, who is playing John Beal in "If,” a play by Lord Dunsany, to be presented shortly by the Auckland Little Theatre Society in the concert chamber of the Town Hall, is a new player in the society. His part is a particularly attractive, though somewhat difficult one. He starts by being a middle-class Londoner. living in his middle-class house with his middle-cl ass wife, and within a few months he is transported by the weird play of Lord Dunsany’s to territory beyond the Persian border, Where he reigns as a king. At a later stage he is withdrawn and is seen walking about the streets of London a derelict. Ultimately he finds his little home, is received by his wife and does not know that for the past ten years he has been Shere of “A 1 Shaldomir.” This is a sketch of the fascinating part Lord Dunsanj* has given to the actor playing John Beal.