“DEAR OCTOPUS”

Wairarapa Times-Age, 11 September 1940, Page 2

“DEAR OCTOPUS”

PRESENTATION BY LITTLE THEATRE SOCIETY. Since the outbreak of Ihe present war, the Little Theatre Society has done good work in the promotion of cheer, but its presentations have hitherto tended towards the farcical type. Now the Society is making a more ambitious effort in producing a pure comedy in which the humour depends rather on the wit and sparkle of the dialogue and laughable but quite natural situations, rather than on farcical and improbable happenings. Thus the public will be given the opportunity of forming an opinion whether farce or pure comedy is better suited to the times. For this purpose, the choice of “Dear Octopus” is a peculiarly happy one. Its author, Dodie Smith, entered the ranks of the professional playwrights in 1930, and has written six successful plays and not a single failure. “Dear Octopus,” which is still running in London, promises to eclipse them all. The distinguished cast, headed by Marie Tempest, John Gielgud, Kate Cutler and Leon Quartermain no doubt contribute to its sustained success in London, but no cast, however strong, can make an inferior play appeal. A contemporary critic says of “Dear Octopus,,: “This is immeasurably Dodie Smith’s best play. Her vivid sense of character and situation is manifest in every phase.” The presentation of such a play as “Dear Octopus" is a much more ambitious effort than anything hitherto attempted by the society, and its production marks the great progress of th:: society in the cultivation of dramatic art. Such a play makes very mud) greater demands on the acting ability of the cast than any phiy previously presented by the society} and the stagemanagement also calls for especial skill. .The producer oil this occasion will be Miss Jean Douglas, whose very considerable dramatic Experience is proving of immense'value in the handling of a large cast ;a nd the successful undertaking of her onerous duties. It is reported that, under her expert guidance, the rehearsals are proceeding with remarkable success, and give every indication that the production will prove a delight to all who attend the performances on September 21 and 23. Mr J. M. Lawsen (in the absence of Mr C. C. Kyngdon, who was to have been the stage manager) is putting strenuous and valuable work into the arrangement of appropriate stage settings, which, it is stated,.are likely to eclipse anything of the kind hitherto seen in Masterton. It can well be understood that the production is eagerly awaited.