"SCARLET AND GREY."

Auckland Star, Volume LXVII, Issue 196, 19 August 1936, Page 11

"SCARLET AND GREY."

TROUBADOURS ENTERTAIN. A merry, sparkling couple who give something that is so old that it is new are Joan and Betty Rayner, the two troubadours, who played to a packed audience in the Y.W.C.A. Hall last night. They gave the first of their two performances before leaving for America, and the programme consisted chiefly of Scandinavian, Slavic and English folk lore.

No scenery or musical accompaniment of any description was used. The audience was asked to imagine the scenery and the players did the rest. Although they entertained the whole evening, the audience did not tire of them, because of the many and varied types of song and dance. It was very pleasing to hear fresh, clear voices, unspoiled by the traditional stage manner, speaking and singing in several different dialects and languages without self-consciousness. Their voices were free and strong and they sang as though they had a joy in telling the people before them of the many stories and songs they had collected, not as though they were making a formal professional appearance. Misses Joan and Betty Rayner have travelled almost all over Europe and Britain in search of all the quaint folk dances and songs "which the country folk told around their kitchen fires at night." The old fairy stories were met under new names and in different languages, but they were still the same old fairy stories that have delighted the world for hundreds of years. The 20 odd songs and dances were presented with great charm, and, hopping from one country to another and one period to the next, they played the lover, knight, old man or blushing maid with equal skill and success. Last night's concert was given the euphonious title of "Scarlet and Grey." Another performance will be given to-night under the heading "Cap and Bells."