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Playwright Who Lived In Auckland

Death of: Reginald Berkeley, Author of "The White Chateau’ ’-Haster School of Drama in Christchurch — Thespians Producing ) Play by Author of "The Ghost Train."

The following brief sunvnary of the life and work of Reginald Berheley, the eminent playwright who once lived in Auckland, was written for the. "Radio Recor ad’ by Victor S. Lloyd, the well-known Wellington prodweer.

FORTY-FIVE is too young for such a . brilliant man as Reginald Berkeley, who. died. last. week, to leave a world of literature that needs him so much; it seems a sad: mistake, but in passing on he-has left well defined, footprints which are ineradicable. He was

born in London on, August 18, 1890, and -attended Bedford Modern School, Later on he came to. Auckland, and finished his education there. He was called to the bar and then went Home, where he became a barrister -at-law of Middle Temple. He served in "the Huropean War in a Rifle Brigade, the 11th Service, and after- . wards in the First Regular. He was demobilised in 1919 and joined the. League — of Nations staff, first .as Bditor of Pamph- _ lets. qnd late as Director of Propaganda. Later’ he joined . -the League Secretariat. As he wished to stand for -Parliament he resigned from’ the Secretariat and.became a Member for Nottingham. In the meantime the pen of this prolific -and brilliant man was never ‘idle. . He had begun. his literary career ag early as 1911 with contributions to the Auckland "Observer." His: first play, ‘French Leave," was begun in the winter of 1916, during a short spell of illness jn the Fourteenth Corps rest station. It was produced in 1920 at the Globe Theatre, and was an immediate success. It was' transferred to. the Apollo ‘and ran nearly a year, In 1920, "Might O'clock," which had actually been written in. 1913, was pio-4 duced at the Little Theatre. Then came! "Mango Island" and "Fhe, World’s End."’ In 1924, "Unparliamentary Papers" was published. In 1925, "The White Chateau" idea was first. given, expression in.a short form for broadcasting on Armistice night, and in. 1927 this~well-known fulllength play was produced at. the Everyman ‘Theatre, where it played for. two. weeks and was transferred to ..the St. Martin’s Theatre-it is probably one- of the best war plays that England has ‘so far achieved. Other plays by the, same author are "Mr, Abdulla," "The Quest: of Blizabeth," "Listeners," "The Lady With the Lamp," "Prince Consort," "Miss Adventure" .(from the French), "The Man I Killed" (adaptation), "Machines" and "O.HM.S.," which was written in 1981.. Of these, "The. Lady With the Lamp" (based on the life of Florence Nightingale) is probably the best known to New . Zealand readers. It was: produced at.the Garrick Theatre in 1929, and is.an exceptionally fine play, and was one of the outstanding successes of that year.. "Dawn," a novel based on the life of Edith. Cavell, was published in 1928. Most New Zealand theatre-goers will remerber ‘the very successful tour of this country which was. made. some years ago by a J. O. Williamson Company presenting "The. Ghost Train," a thriller ‘by Arnold Ridley. Though* that play is its. author’s chief claim to fame in this country, he is known in Dngland’ as a playwright. of considerable ability, and Wellington audiences are shortly to have an opportunity of judging his versatility for themselves, when. the Thespians Soeiety present his farce "Third Time Lucky." ‘The: play is to-be presented: dur-

ing the first week in May, in the Concert Chamber of the Wellington ‘Town Haj, and rehearsals haye been in progr¢ss for some time under Mr. Victor SX Lloyd, the society’s director, who is beg assisted in the production by Miss Winnie Cooley, The complete cast is as follows; Florence LL. Render, Freda Brittain, Janet Stirling, Effie Brice, W. J. Mountjoy, jun, FF, G. Hayes-Towns, Warren Toogood, B, R. O’Brien, John Hopkins, and Geoffrey Lloyd. HB Christchurch (North Canterbury) area of the British Drama League 1¢ holding an Haster School of Drama at the Little Theatre of Canterbury College. Professor Shelley and Mr, Bernard Beeby-are to be. the lecturers. Mr. Beeby is producer for the Canterbury Repertory Theatre Society. Mrs, Spence-

Clark, who is honorary secretary of the Christchurch (North Canterbury) area is acting as organiser. of. the school. , j¥ reports are true, Bernard Shaw’s ° latest play, "The Simpleton of the Unexpected Islands," scheduled, for production at the Malvern Festival shortly, is to have its Buropean premiere at Hamburg or Leipzig this week. According to the "Berliner TageGlatt,’ which recently published the prologue to the play, the. new work deals in a satirical manner with the racial problem. On a tropiéal island an Indian priest founds a curious colony where he attempts to breed a new kind of human . being who will bring happiness to the world. The experiment, howeyer, is a failure. Ag usual in a Shaw play, poli-

tical problems of all kinds-social life, reJigion, and morale-are all discussed freely, Wnglish works still head the list of foreign plays presented on the Berlin stage. Oscar Wilde’s "Lady Windermere’s Fan’ has been running all the winter. Werner Krauss is appearing at the State Theatre in Shakespeare’s "King Lear," and Shaw’s "Pygmalion." "The Wind and the Rain" has been tried ont at the Grosses Schauspielhaus. R. BERNARD BEDBY, of Christchurch, is to act as adjudicator at the Wellington Area Festival of Community Drama. Mr. Beeby, who has had considerable experience on the legitimate stage, has acted as producer for the Canterbury Repertory Theatre Society for some time. :

This article text was automatically generated and may include errors. View the full page to see article in its original form.I whakaputaina aunoatia ēnei kuputuhi tuhinga, e kitea ai pea ētahi hapa i roto. Tirohia te whārangi katoa kia kitea te āhuatanga taketake o te tuhinga.
Permanent link to this item
Hononga pūmau ki tēnei tūemi

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/periodicals/RADREC19350412.2.36.1

Bibliographic details
Ngā taipitopito pukapuka

Radio Record, Volume VIII, Issue 40, 12 April 1935, Page 24

Word count
Tapeke kupu
923

Playwright Who Lived In Auckland Radio Record, Volume VIII, Issue 40, 12 April 1935, Page 24

Playwright Who Lived In Auckland Radio Record, Volume VIII, Issue 40, 12 April 1935, Page 24

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