THEATRE NEWS

Auckland Star, Volume LXXII, Issue 221, 18 September 1941, Page 11

THEATRE NEWS

IN ENGLAND NOW NOELi COWARD'S NEW PLAY Here's news for theatre lovers who like to know what's going on in England, even though wartime has starved them of ballet and plays in this country. Noel Coward's new play, "Blithe Spirit," was well received by an audience in Manchester, where the first performance was given. The people cheered for several minutes. At the conclusion, Mr. Coward made the longest curtain speech in his career.

The play, described by the author as an "improbable farce," concerns a widower, played by Cecil Parker, who, after marrying again, contacts the puckish spirit of his first wife at a seance. Complications occur with the second wife and are not solved until she, too, reaches the astral plane. The wives are played by Fay Compton and Kay Hammond. The piece is very light and constructed with Mr. Coward's usual skill.

Tyrone Guthrie brings colour and imagination back to the London stage in his new production of Shakespeare's "King John." His characters might have stepped straight out of the Froissart Chronicles. John himselF has a touch of the King of Hearts about him. with his silky yellow hair and beard. The back-cloths and curtain groupings are reminiscent of old tapestries, and fine dramatic use is made of waving banners, in shades of red for the English court and of blue for the French. The play is extremely topical with its fifth columnists and scheming cardinal and is robustly acted by a cast including Ernest Milton as King John and Dame Sybil Thorndike as Constance. Talking of Shakespeare, an interesting point arose out of the production of "The Merchant Of Venice," which the Old Vic has been touring in the mining villages round Durham. The words of Shakespeare, it was found, were so closely allied to the everyday speech of the country people that they found less difficulty in understanding certain phrases than would a sophisticated city audience.