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Dominion, Volume 17, Issue 290, 24 August 1923, Page 3

Mr. Harrison Allen, of Sydney, who Is to act as judge of elocution at the Wellington Competitions, commencing to-morrow night, is one of the bestknown elocutionists in Australia. He is a Dickens specialist, and was tne first man in Australia to give recitals from Dickens in character. About eighteen years ago lie acted as assistant teacher to Mr. Lawrence Campbell, of Sydney, Australia's most lanious instructor of that period. Mr. Allen was associated with Mr. William Holman, father of the late Premier of New South Wales, in a production of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” with Mendelssohn music by the State orchestra, under Mr. Henri Verbrugghen. Mr. Allen is not unknown in the Dominion, as he acted as judge of the Dunedin Competitions in 1913, and has officiated frequently since at various centres throughout Australia, his lass engagement being at Toowoomba in 1921. In a chat with a Dominion reporter yesterday, Mr. Allen stated that elocution was now regarded as a fine art, and not merely as a repetition of poetry. Above all, he looks for naturalness. Besides being a Dickens sjnecialist, Mr. Allen is a character actor and comedian, and has put on such plays as “Charley’s Aunt.”