WELLINGTON SHAKESPEARE CLUB.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1195, 2 August 1911, Page 7

WELLINGTON SHAKESPEARE CLUB.

"LOVE'S LABOUR LOST." One can very readily imagine that lo earnest students of Shakespearean literature, weekly meetings of tho Wellington Shakespearean Club offer congenial and profitable entertainment, with the ultimate prospect of minds enriched by more or less intimate association with that nobility of expression and generous philosophy which was the triumph nt Elizabethan literature. The permanent condition of the club may be regarded as evidence that its usefulr.ess in these respects is appreciated at its true value bv its members. But it is rather doubtful whether the efforts of the club in the direction of public entertainment may be regarded with the same measure of 'satisfaction. The club gave a public reading of "Love's Labour Lost" at the Concert Chamber, Town Hall, last evening, and cerlainly justified its existence ns an institution created for the. education and entertainment of its members. The selected portions of the comedy wore read with a.n intelligent appreciation of the author's ideas, which showed that considerable pains had been taken with their preparation. But, considered from the' assumption that the rai.-au d'olrc of the. occasion was the edification of an interested portion of tho general public—nnd that portion was largely represented—one is inclined to regard the results with less enthusiasm. Bobbed of its stage setting, of costume, of action, and with but a vestige of gesture left to add animation to the spoken utterance, Shakespeare's whimsical comedy becomes but a simple series of recitations, to bo relieved from actual dullness only by the merit of the elocutionists, ami by the. incidental songs of Mrs. F. P. Wilson—"When Daisies Pied" (Dr. Amp) and "When Icicles Haiig by ihe Wall" (S. Smith)— very acceptable items. "Love's Labour Lost," in the first place, lends itself least of all of Shakespeare's plays lo successful effort in such an entertainment as a public reading of the kind under notice, and in that respect the club showed commendable courage in attempting the task. As Biron, one of the lords attendant on Ferdinand, Mr. K. S. Baldwin gavo rather a serious interpretation of the character of the witty courtier whose metier is to poke fun at his fellows. Mr. T. D. Kendall's Ferdinand, was a conscientious reading, clearly spoken, if somewhat colourless. As Costard (a clown), Mr. L. Buckeridge stirred the imagination to a. conception of what an entertaining fellow that amusing character actually is. Mr. 11. K. Nicholls, ns Don Adriano de Armado, read his lines with a breezy zest and appropriate animation. Mr. K. Shorney> reading of Moth (Dago to Amado) was f|tiite commendable. Miss Van Staveren's reading of the Princess of France was animated, and showed a sound appreciation of the character. Mr. W. R. Bock, ns Holofemes (a schoolmaster), gave a characteristic interpretation, and was by no means dull. The remainder of the cast included Mrs. Baldwin (Rosaline). Miss Xicholls (Maria), Miss Carson (Catharine), Miss Simpson (Jaqucnctta—a good reading), and Messrs. C. 1). Mills (Longaville'i, E. D. Cachcmaille (Durain), W. Godfrey (Boyet), W. Lewis (Merende), W. K. Fuller (Sir Nathaniel), and C. W. Tanner (Dull, a constable). Mr. P. P. Webb acted as director, and Miss C. Simpson played Mrs. Wilson's accompaniments. The club proposes to resume its weekly meetings on August 9 with "Othello."