FORTUNE FROM PLAY

Waikato Times, Volume 122, Issue 20492, 7 May 1938, Page 17 (Supplement)

FORTUNE FROM PLAY

GEORGE AND MARGARET”

RUNS OVER YEAR IN LONDON There is*nothlng more difficult in ; the theatrical world than for a dramatist who has scored a big success with his first play to repeat that success with his second shot, says a London paper. Gerald Savory has had the satisfaction of seeing his family-life comedy. "George and Margaret," first tried out modestly on a Sunday night, run for over a year in the West End—with the public still flocking up to the boxoffice. On Easter Monday his second play. "Good and Proper," had its first production at the Embassy Theatre. And the big query is: Will Mr Savory he able to achieve what so many of his predecessors have been unable to do? Whatever fortune befalls this play, Gerald Savory- has the satisfaction of having accumulated a comfortable little fortune from ‘‘George and Margaret.” I wonder, by the way (says the London writer) whether playgoers ever give a thought to the feelings of the artists concerned in long runs. When I saw "George and Margaret" again a week or so ago, the entire company gave a performance as fresh and sparkling as that of the memorable first-night. Yet only a few nights previously at. the anniversary parly given by the management, one of the principal artists had confessed to me that he or she (I will not say which viewed with actual horror the thought of the run continuing for

even three months longer! Even the satisfactory financial aspect cpmpensate artists for the monotony of speaking the same lines many -hundreds of times over. But few of them ever give audiences the slightest indication of this monotony. ‘‘The Wind and the Rain” It is recalled that at a party given to celebrate the first anniversary of "The Wind and the Rain," a play by a New Zealander, Dr. Merton Hodge, a toast was proposed looking forward to the second anniversary. One of the pitfncipal ratists whispered: "I just can’t drink to that: it would choke me 1” A year later that second anniversary was realised; and the artist in question, whose performance had never flagged, gave a sickly grin when the toast was repeated . . . Recently Hamilton saw "George and Margaret" played by a company headed by Fay Compton. SOME AMUSING STORIES TRICK NOT COMPLETE The music-hall magician was performing his sawing-a-woman act, and invited volunteers to step up and help I him. The chosen helper seemed nervous when the circular saw descended upon her, so he whispered to her, “ There, it’s all over now. Pull yourself together.” " Gosh !’’ she wailed. " D’ver mean to say you ain't learned that part o’ the trick?” DONE ’EM WRONG Jackie’s Father (examining arithmetic book) : " What’s this? Most of the sums are marked * Mae West.’ ” Jackie: "Oh. that only means ‘1 done 'em wrong.’ ” OUT OF PERIOD The scene was a Hollywood film ! studio. Thousands of extras, dressed ! as French revolutionaries, storming ! the Bastille, filled the middle dis- j tance. In the foreground, on a rostrum, was the director, bawling through a ' megaphone: " We’re going to do this over and over again—until the guy shouting ‘ whoopee ’ decides to co-operate.”