GERMAN “SHOW-BOAT”

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 777, 25 September 1929, Page 11

GERMAN “SHOW-BOAT”

FLOATING THEATRE TO TOUR WORLD IN OLD SAILING SHIP A number of idealists prominent in the German artistic world have determined to demonstrate that the Germany of Goethe and Schiller Is not yet dead. They have been up-to-date enough to collect as much information about modern stage technique as possible in the belief that German drama in particular has a wide appeal to students of her history and culture. The old American showboat. come suddenly into prominence by Edna Ferber’s book and the play founded on it, has also contributed to the scheme. This is nothing less than a floating theatre, built into an old-fashioned, four-masted schooner, writes 4-11 e Berlin correspondent of the London “Observer.” On this ship, rechristened Pro Arte, these Kultur enthusiasts are going round the world. Their voyage for the first trip will occupy nearly a year. Places to be visited will include Hamburg, Bremen, the Dutch ports, London, Spanish ports, South American ports, Baltimore, Washington, New York. Boston and the Azores. On the Pro Arte will be, besides the actual theatre, equipped with a modern stage and all its appurtenances, and seating 500 people, one of those old German beer and wine taverns which are still copied today whenever a new place of amusement is built, and still, it must be assumed, prove as big an attraction for the student of German cultural life as any form of drama, ancient or modern. There will be comfortable apartments for the actors and actresses, an extra lecture room, and an exhibition display of German arts and crafts. The Pro Arte intends to present plays which are really representative of the German spirit, irrespective of what the managers in big cities today think necessary to ensure a boxoffice success. This, it is hoped, will be assured through the public interest every country is bound to display when the Pro Arte puts into port. It is hoped that the first trip will start early next January. Feverish activity has been going on behind the scenes for the past two years, and some of the most influential and respected personalities In the theatrical world are enthusiastic, artistic and financial supporters of the idea.