ARDENT DICKENSIAN

Dominion, Volume 27, Issue 284, 28 August 1934, Page 10

ARDENT DICKENSIAN

Mr. Clement May Leaving For Hollywood LONG STAGE CAREER Mr, Clement May, whose incursions into the entertaining sphere of Dickens character have from time to time given much pleasure in Wellington during the last seven years, js to leave for the United States shortly to test his fortune on a wider field of action than New Zealand can offer. When seen yesterday, Mr. May said that he thought he had something to sell for which there were no customers in this country. His reference was to certain scenarios with Dickensian backgrounds, which he imagined might make very beautiful, pictures, which would have a wide appeal wherever the works of Charles Dickens were known and loved. At any r te, it was his intention to test the ground on the spot, in order to ascertain whether his ideas were practicable. For that reason Mr. May said it was his intention to proceed to Hollywood as soon as he reached America. Stage Career Begins. Mr. May was just over 20 years of age when he first went on the stage with the London Gaiety Company then playing “The Shop Girl,” “In Town” and “Gentleman Joe” in Sydney. That was a very brilliant company with three first-class comedians —Louis Bradfield, Harry Monkhouse, and Fred Kaye. Then here were Grace Palotta, Maud Hobson and other London stars, making up a remarkable ensemble. That company was much too expensive a proposition to bring to New Zealand. Later Mr. May was associated with a tour during which some of the picturesque melodramas imported originally by Mr. Bland Holt were played, Mr. May on that occasion playing the roles formerly assumed by Mr. Holt. He was also associated with two tours with the late Miss Maggie Moore, playing “Struck Oil,” “The Days of ’49,” and “The Golden Giant,” and later still toured New Zealand with the late Nellie Stewart, and was in South Africa with Marie Tempest. 17 Years’ Tour. “I suppose I did the longest Dickens tour ever done by anyone in *'he world,” said Mr. May. “That tour lasted 17 years. It commenced with a five years’ tour of England, Ireland, and Scotland, and after that I went out to India, toured the whole of that country, and even ventured as far as Kabul in Afghanistan—and even there I found audiences prepared to laugh with Sam Weller and Mr. Pickwick, and shed a tea over the misfortunes of Little Nell. I have had some strange experiences. I was engaged once to give a Dickens recital at the wedding of a wealthy Mohammedan in Delhi, He was a barrister, and as most of his guests were University men, they formed a most appreciative audience. It was a £5O engagement, I afterward learned. I got £2O, the pianist a fiver, and the agent got away with the rest. I was at the Royal Court Theatre, Delhi, for five weeks. Afterward I was 12 months in South Africa.” Mr. May said he had been four times under the Williamson management, the last time being when he came over as a “turn” to the Regent Theatre with Williamson’s Celebrities Vaudeville, He has been teaching elocution here for seven years, but the road calls—and it is a call that may not be denied.