SHAKESPEAREAN SCULPTURE

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30561, 2 October 1964, Page 10

SHAKESPEAREAN SCULPTURE

A massive abstract seulp- 1 ture on a Shakespearean theme will be presented for the new Students’ Union building of the University of Canterbury at Ham by Miss Ngaio Marsh to commemorate her pleasure in her long as-

sociation with the University Drama Society. This model of the design by Mr T. J. Taylor, a lecturer in the School of Fine Arts, has been accepted in principle by the University Council and gratitude expressed to Miss Marsh for the offer. Orginally a more conventional theme was considered but this one was chosen to match the ultra-modern design for the Students’ Union building by Messrs Warren and Mahoney. The principal elements reproduce some of the traditional lines of the theatre—the proscenium arch, the wings, and the cyclorama of the backdrops. This, said Mr Taylor, set the stage and allowed the use of bold volumes.

■ The main planes of these elements, fashioned in a greenish-black cement fondu, will be highly polished. The concave surfaces will be richly textured and within these textures will be suggested some symbols from the principal Shakespearean plays which Miss Marsh produced so successfully for the Canterbury University Drama Society throughout New Zealand and in Australia. “Hamlet,” for instance, may be represented by a daggercross motif and perhaps the form of a Danish crown. “Julius Caesar” may be marked by eagles and laurels. None will be too literal. Such details have still to be developed and that is why the University Council has accepted the design in principle only.

The largest plane will carry a linear form of Shakespeare’s head after the Grafton portrait. This will be outlined on the concrete mixture with a grinding wheel. The model illustrated is small. The actual sculpture will be 12 feet long and about three feet deep. It will hang in a striking position in the Students’ Union. The main stairway will rise to a mezzanine landing. Visitors will then turn back to mount two further stairways on either side. They will then be facing a hanging wall which will, in fact be the rear of the “Little Theatre.” The new sculpture will be mounted on this wall, seen by all who enter the theatre and visible from the many angles in the stair foyer. It is for this reason that the relief is deep.