LONDON LETTER SHAKESPEARE STILL THE LEADING PLAYWRIGHT

Press, Volume XCI, Issue 27642, 26 April 1955, Page 12

LONDON LETTER SHAKESPEARE STILL THE LEADING PLAYWRIGHT

[From KEITH EUN SON. London Correspondent of ’’The Press’']

London, April 15.—More than three centuries after his death, Shakespeare remains the most popular of all playwrights. The Memorial Theatre at Stratford-on-Avon opened its season this week with 140,000 seats sold for the first 14 weeks of this annual Shakespeare festival. For the first eight weeks of the season 80.000 bookable seats were available in this theatre in an out-of-the-way Warwickshire market town, and 600,000 applications were received! They came from every corner of the world, from hopeful enthusiasts eager to see Shakespeare performed by the best interpreters of his work in this country. And it was a noteworthy start to the Shakespeare season when Sir Laurence Olivier, Vivien Leigh and Sir John Gielgud appeared together in “Twelfth Night.” It was Oliviers first appearance at Stratford since ne was a boy of 15, playing in “Th e Taming of the Shrew,” and it was the first time that he and Gielgud had appeared together in a theatre for 20 years. Critics seemed generally satisfied with the production. The leading acting trio was praised for the interpretation each member gave—with some reservations—and the decor of Gielgud’s presentation (he is produceractor in the first series of plays) was considered rich and elaborate. The Memorial Theatre has every reason, it seems, to appear confident and prosperous. Maurice Chevalier is Back On a different theatrical level, London finds Maurice Chevalier back in theatreland. Few actors can hold an audience by themselves for two hours, for this is one of the great tests of the stage. Once out before his big audience, the actor cannot retreat if his spell begins to wear a little thin. He cannot retire, for there is no-one to bring on the dancing girls while he gathers his forces again. But Chevalier is one of the few. A star of long-stand-ing, he has no illusions about success. His one-man show running in London is pure pleasure. His success comes from his knowing what he can do and doing it perfectly. His material contains nothing brilliant or spectacular, but he knows what it is worth and how it should be done. I saw him do a 20-minute show on television at tfee week-end; and it was obvious why this delightful French personality was so popular with my parents a few years ago.

Albert Memorial Shines The ponderous and much-abused memorial of Queen Victoria to her husband, the Albert Memorial, has shed its obscuring cloak of scaffolding after 12 months and appears now as bright and clean as when it was built. At a cost of £7OOO, this remarkable edifice in marble and bronze has been restored’from the results of damage by bombs during the war. The 15ft high bronze cross and orb has been recast, as has the life-size angel at the top of the monument. The figure of Albert, four or five times life-size, has been cleaned and repaired. World Champion Returns The New Zealand holder of the world speedway championship, Ronnie Moore (Christchurch), has returned to Britain for another season on the tracks. He was quickly into action. Arriving last Saturday morning by air from the United States, he competed the same evening, won the Surrey Trophy and appeared on the T.V. “Sports Review” programme after the meeting. Moore, who announced from Christchurch a few months ago his retirement from speedway racing, changed his mind after receiving an urgent cable for his services from the manager of the Wimbledon track. Moore will again captain the Wimbledon Club, one of the leading speedway organisations in this country. As world champion, he will be able to command a huge salary this season, though it will not be as great as for previous champions because of the difficulties the speedways have experienced in meeting entertainment taxes. Several well-known British tracks have closed down this season; and a number of New Zealand, riders have decided not to return for the 1955 racing. Spring is Here Spring has come to London in dramatic fashion. After one of the worst English winters for many years, the weather man smiled on England during the Easter holidays. Warm sunshine made the break a welcome one for persons used to muffling up in thick woollen coats: and the streets of London this week have been graced by office workers and shop girls wearing bright summer frocks. The tempera- ♦ London rose to 67 degrees yesterday, a most unusual occurrence, as tne average temperature at this time is 55 degrees. Everywhere tne trees are donning their sprin* l green; flowers in Regent’s Park, St. F® rk a nd Kew Gardens are bursting into a not of colour; and the experts are predicting a “good sumi fO L a change. Scotland, especiH l .« h J. ands ' has yet to be b y , thls happy sunshine: and pl ? ce ® cattle are still being still b >y hand - Many of the mountains sun have snow around the peaks: but ri« n £ COtS i™ I ? ow well used to their rigorous ehmate and it takes more them laCk ° f sunshine to depress

I If the British Broadcasting Corporation is to be taken as the best in radio, one can be only disappointed at the way in which it has met the challenge which arose from the non-pub-lication of the London, or national, newspapers. Apart from increasing the length of its news bulletins, providing a few extra news summaries and giving added television time to news subjects, it has done little to alleviate the shortage of nexqs to millions of people. True, the provincial press has not been affected by the strike; but millions of newspaper readers in this country depend on the London newspapers for their information. The 8.8. C. has shown little,vpr no. initiative in its news reporting during the strike, and if it is effectively to counter the tremendous challenge that commercial television is going to offer later this year, there will be need for considerable improvement in its television service as well. A Melancholy Affair Though the editorial staffs of London’s newspapers have been appearing regularly at their offices during the strike, it has been a melancholy affair to them. In the main, their duties have been revision of obituaries, always a depressing task. Most newspapers have also been summarising the news, so that a complete cover will be available when publication again begins. Many are now finding that they have summarised the summaries and are engaged in summarising the summarised summaries. The “Yorkshire Post” has likened it to whittling a stick. . . “You end up with next to nothing in your hand—and cut your fingers.” Some of the papers have been preparing each day’s issue; and it is believed that “The Times” was in a position for normal publication within 30 seconds of the strike being settled. Though it has, in a fact, a machine which would have allowed it to publish without the aid of the strikers, it refused to pse it in order to keep a united front against what it believed to be the unreasonable demands made to the Newspaper Proprietors’ Association. The only journalists without any real complaints are the racing scribes, who have to attend every race meeting as usual without the necessity of providing forecasts and, later, having to explain them. They can watch the events at the expense of their respective offices without the need to write a line. Loss of Business ' The importance of newspapers as an advertising medium has been another fact that the strike has proved to the hilt. Places of entertainment, especially, are feeling the pinch, and even “plugs” on the British Broadcasting Corporation have done little to alleviate their troubles. Bookmakers are having a hard time of it. too. Without the newspapers to provide racing information. people either are not betting or are going to see the races themselves. This latter point was perhaps illustrated by the record crowds which attended all race meetings in Britain during the Easter holidays. Businessmen have also found difficulties without their daily newspapers The chairman of the Cheap Food League, Major Oliver Smedley, recently said that “The Times” should withdraw from the Newspaper Proprietors’ Association and resume printing immediately. He argued that “The Times” provided the records of prices in the commercial markets at home and overseas, and therefore had a world responsibility vested in no other newspaper. Such is the power of th* press. Notice given to non-editoria’ workers expired last night and toda--20.000 men ver? without their hood. The Edinburgh Festival The advice I gave last week t'm prospective visitors from New Zealand wishing to attend the Edinburgh Festival should make early application to agencies in the Dominion wc.s illtimed. It should have been given a month ago. The London office of the festival opened for bookings this week and the staff has been inundated with applications from overseas. After one week, sales reached £5OOO, which amounts to one-sixth of the whole London allocation. The festival is still 18 weeks away. Plays are so far the main attraction, most interest being shown in “La Dame aux Camellias” with Edwige Feuillere, and Thornton Wilder’s new piece, specially commissioned for the festival, “Life Ifi the Sun.” This play has caused an excited buzz of expectation. Commonwealth Visit Likely One of the early tasks of the new British Secretary for Commonwealth Relations, the Earl of Home, may well be a visit to the Commonwealth countries. Lord Home, who has been Secretary of State for Scotland, has not w'-ite.d any Commonwealth country; and already his appointment has been criticised in Australia. A friend of mine, who represents a Scottish constituency in the House of Commons, described Lord Home as “an able administrator and a really delightful fellow.” He considered that the Commonwealth’s gain through his appointment was Scotland’s loss. It is unlikely that any plans for the Commonwealth visit will be announced until the General Election hfls been decided upon.