LACK OF SUPPORT FOR LOCAL DRAMA

Auckland Star, Volume LXXII, Issue 169, 19 July 1941, Page 13

LACK OF SUPPORT FOR LOCAL DRAMA

does the Auckland public a not appreciate drama? At I the present moment, when Auckland dramatic companies, work- t ing under increasing difficulties, t are willing to do their bit for the c Fighting Forces Fund, surely it is ' ! the public s duty to give their } , support. | .Yet those companies who have J given productions for patriotic funds nave met with appallingly slight response. They have presented good 1 shows with skilled casts. Why 1 then, this apathy? 1 Drama, music, painting are im- 1 portant, not only to a nation's cul- ? ture, but to the life of the people. J It may be argued that the screen, 1 in its best moments, can be a won- ' aerful cultural influence. That is ' true. But the screen is universal. There must be some form of ' drama which is individual to each country. We may not have the 1 original dramS in New Zealand as : yet, tut we can provide the players • to interpret the drama of other ' countries in our own way. That, at least, is a step forward. Public Apathy Yet at present all efforts to make the drama a living thing in Auckland are being stultified by public apathy and indifference. (The position in other cities of the Dominion seems to be less discouraging.) This is a cause in which women can play a great part. The companies in Auckland number women among their most ardent supporters, especially at the present time, when so many men are being called away.

Yet more active support is needed. Why does the public not give it? "I think one reason is that it is not fashionable at present to go to plays," said a girl who belongs to two dramatic companies in Auckland and is keenly appreciative of the work they are doing. "Ten years ago it was 'the thing' to go to plays. Everyone went, and drama took a place in the social scheme of things in Auckland. Lately, however, a more highbrow 'arty' element has developed, which ■has excluded the average citizen from enjoying local drama. "Public support, combined with good plays, should enable a theatre to be built up to take a definite place in the scheme of things in Auckland, since we have no legitimate professional stage to answer this need for us." This girl had a further reason for the lack of public interest, namelv, insufficient publicity. "People don't know about these productions," she said. "Yet, surely, when they are in aid of fighting funds, especiallv, it's important that the public support them." Without a doubt this lack of knowledge on the part of the average person is one of the chief reasons for the apathy. In several cases friends of members of dramatic companies here have been invited to attend productions and have been amazed that local people could act with such polish and that the technical side should be so skilled. "I wouldn't have believed that any chaps in Auckland could act like that," was the comment of one young man after a recent production. A middle-aged woman who has seen everything worthwhile on the London stage has also been won over by the Auckland companies. "For a long time I was prejudiced

against amateurs." she said. "But I thoroughly enjoy the shows they put on here." The "highbrow" work so characteristic of Auckland amateur drama at present was criticised by one girl, who said that the average person did not want "moralising" plays. "These companies try to do work which they are too inexperienced to achieve with success," she said. Just Prejudice Prejudice against all amateur work was the reason given by another woman for her lack of support. "I know that's a wrong attitude," she said, "but I can't help 1 it. As a matter of fact, however, I no longer go to professional shows either. They can't compete nowadays with the shows of the old days, when Dion Boucicault and Irene Vanbrugh used to come to Australia and New Zealand." Last but not least, of course, is the stronger attraction of the movies. It is an old and sad story, and one that the stage has been fighting against for years. It has had its effect all over the world, i "The movies do it so much better," is the cry. They do, in certain fields. The stage cannot possibly compete with the realism of the screen. But there is a place for botn. The stage will always have the advantage of interpreting life in the form of flesh and blood figures. To theatre-lovers; there is a magic in that which the shadows of the screen can never have. It is that magic which drama to-day, in Auckland as elsewhere, must convey to the public.