SHAKESPEAREAN PAGEANT.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1603, 21 November 1912, Page 4

SHAKESPEAREAN PAGEANT.

. 'PROCESSION AT HAVELOCK. , (By. Telegraph.-lspecial Correspondent.) Hastings, November 20. The Shakespearean pageant held to-day at Havelock was in many respects a most successful affair. The decorations in the . township, though fairly extensive, wore not-, particularly' convincing from the. ■ Shakespearean aspect, but the procession' was an extraordinarily successful feature. T oVor 2W psrio'ns Wfi-Wi-and they were divided into divisions representing -the principal plays of Shakespeare. Thus there were carried banners proclaiming the representation of "Hamlet,* "The Merchant of Venice," 1 "Winter's Tale," "Eomeo and Juliet," "Much' Ado About Nothing," "Julius Caesar," etc. Following each banner-were living portrayals of the chief characters in these plays. The costumes: were not only elaborate, but truo to' character, with the result that. Iho best- known creations of the great author were brought before the. onlookers with striking fidelity. The procession was not only a unique one so far as New Zealand experience is concerned, but it also set'a very high standard in the thoroughness with which it was carried out. After parading the village the procession passed into an enclosure of a few acres,, wherein side shows and entertainments of various kinds were Carried on. Most of these were indicative"* of the Elizabethan era, and the Shakespearean characters strolling around the vicinity looked oven more, convincing than they had. done in the formal procession. In the afternoon and evening several. plays were produced in whole or in part in the 1 Havelock Hall, the actors being local residents, and these were staged very, effectively. A very large crowd, numbering from 4000 to 5000, contributed chiefly from. Napier and Hastings, witnessed the pageant,, which was carried out in a manner reflecting very) great oredit upon the originality and en-V terprise' of the residents cf Havelock. ; I — ' '"""