APPRECIATION OF THEATRE

Press, Volume LXXXIX, Issue 27064, 12 June 1953, Page 5

APPRECIATION OF THEATRE

N.Z. Players Tutor 500 Children USE OF PROPERTIES, DEMONSTRATED Five hundred Christchurch secondary schoolchildren now have a much clearer idea than formerly of what goes on behind the scenes to make possible the production of a play like “The Young Elizabeth,” now being staged in CnristchuTch by the New Zealand Players. Late yesterday afternoon members of the company . took time to explain to the children, who packed the stalls of the Theatre Royal, something of the manipulation of stage properties and the production of lighting effects, and the children saw the company’s actors in excerpts from their current play. The children not only observed: they were also called on to take part m the

The programme began with Mr John Gordon, a member of the company, calling on Mr Kenneth Southgate, the stage director, to explain the intricacies of his job. Under Mr Southgate’s direction, two small boys shifted quite easily a big 18-foot flat, and then one or two boys ordered the fly-men to backdrops. The head electrician, Mr Eric J. Rose, demonstrated lighting effects. Mr Gordon later called on children to portray characters which he suggested, and he gave them some useful hints. Members of the cast of “The Young Elizabeth,” including Edith Campion, gave excerpts from the play. The players wore ordinary dress. Subsequently, parties of the children were taken backstage.