ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS

New Zealand Listener, Volume 29, Issue 733, 31 July 1953, Page 5

ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS

Poubtlul (Christchurch ).-Productions Department, Head Office, NZBS, Wellington. Democrat (Canterbury).-Sorry; the discussion has lapsed. W Fraser (Napier).-Thank you, Will pass it on, Parent Listener (Foxton).-Your criticism will be borne in mind. Regular Listener (Wellington).-Two requests are still allowed; but, to allow for better programme arrangement, they are not usually played together. When requests are again invited, it will be for single items;* the double requests make for long delays.

Further correspondence_ on page 15

The N.Z. Players

To the Editor ©

Sir, — Everybody who loves the theatre wishes success to the first New Zealand professional repertory company. So far the press has lavished praise on them, although the public has been less unanimous. I am venturing on the thankless task of the candid friend because my brain, and not merely my heart, is with them and I want them, by avoiding error, to become a permanent feature of our artistic life, My first criticism is their choice of an opening play. Good repertory companies in England are "shrewder than the inexperienced New Zealand Players. When they begin a new season with a new company they invariably open with a good modern play in which the artists are, broadly speaking, themselves, and thus they become known to their new public and make friends with their audiences, and this is a very important factor making for success. Having established this friendly relationship they may then proceed to play occasional costume pieces. Now Dandy Dick is a period farce in which most of the characters are more or less hidden behind a mask of period make-up and costume, and at the end of the play remain as, un- known to us as at the beginning. Secondly, Dandy Dick is not a very good farce, certainly not Pinero’s best. ‘Both The Schoolmistress and The Magistrate are better. It is slow in development and not very funny in its plot or dénouement. Thirdly, the production was uncertain® and ‘confused. Farcical acting requires special gifts which, even in London, few artists possess. That is why farce is confined to ‘a small, specialised: group. Young and inexperienced professionals should have been protected against attempting a play which demands such specialised technique. Some of the artists were acting the play as comedy, others as farce; the result was that the sharp edge of

the fun was blunted. This was conspicuously true of the actor who played the Dean, who is obviously an ‘excellent actor in comedy or drama. But he was out of his element in farce, His appearance and his sensible, calm deliveryin a word, his normality and soliditywere devoid of the element of farce and weakened the effect of farcical technique in others with whom he came in contact. It seemed also a mistake to have the unnecessary pianist who later became a character in the play and whose previous appearance in the orchestra well rendered her stage presence unconvincing. Indeed, this attempt at arty-craftiness-and all similar ones -should be avoided. The New Zealand Players are the first of the new Elizabethan Age. What a pity that, instead of advancing with a fine modern play of the 1950s, they should have retreated to the fusty 1870s. A company of players who aspire to be "National" must base themselves on wide popular support; otherwise there can be no financial stability. To do this they must give the public what it mostly likes. Let them be warned by the sad fate of the Commonwealth Company, whose bright hopes were shattered by indifference to public | taste. There can be no hope for a permanent professional theatre in New Zealand if it ignores the plain fact that. the public is overwhelmingly cinema-minded, and that if it is unable to win over a substantial portion of that public it can never succeed. To do so, therefore, it should consider them: it must give them a generous number of simple and popular plays, and it should present them attractively. For instance, it must’ entertain them throughout the evening as the cinemas do, and not leave 20 minutes or more of dead silence between the acts. In short, there must be showmanship as well as sincerity.‘ Finally, may I congratulate the Players on their performance of The Young Elizabeth. It was beautifully presented and acted. /

ROBERT

YOUNG

(Christchurch)_