FOUR ONE-ACT PLAYS

Dominion, Volume 30, Issue 260, 30 July 1937, Page 7

FOUR ONE-ACT PLAYS

Drama League Festival ADJUDICATOR’S COMMENTS A much larger audience than on Wednesday uight was present last night at the British Drama League’s annual festival in the Concert Chamber at the Wellington Town Hall. Very keen interest was taken.'in the four one-act plays presented. The programme was as follows: — Pioneer Club’s Drama Circle in “Joint Owners in Spain,” by Alice Brown. Players: Miss J. Forsyth, Mrs. G. Perry, Mrs. Davies and Miss Woodhouse. The adjudicator, Professor James Shelley, said the play was a good one which gave plenty of chances for characterisation. It was easy to play; it almost played itself. The players must not take for granted that all the success was theirs, as sometimes the author had a share in it. This was so in this play. The characters were well marked and lay-out of the stage was good, though it might have been better. There was always that tendency to miss out the pauses. If the situation in a play were worked out properly those pauses should not be omitted. Mrs. Mitchell was too anxious to get her lines out; she was not easy enough for the mistress of an old ladies’ home, one well used to dealing with these people, and her delivery was a little stiff. Mrs. Blair was good in spirit, but she would stop deliberately in what she was doing to speak her lines., whereas in life a woman would not do so. Still, the groundwork was good.

Wellington East Old Girls’ Dramatic Society in “Ladies in Waiting,” by Wendy St. John Maule. Players’: Ailsa Duff, Mary Machell, Mary Reeves, Rae Sturroek, Dorothy Luke, Ena Bell and Joyce Wceber.

In commenting on this play, Professor Shelley said it had to be remembered that the scene was the interior of a hospital, and that should be conveyed by the nurses, who, as they all knew’, always | behaved as though they “owned the earth.” They had to do _so to deinonstate their efficiency. Similarly, other people in a hospital could not behave as though they were in their own drawingroom. There was always the feeling of slight uneasiness about people vistiug a hospital; a feeling that they really should not be there. He had never seen a nurse poke her head in the door and give an instruction to somebody waiting, as did the nurse in this play. On her depended the duty of conveying that it was an institution; yet how many caught the flavour of the hospital from her bearing? It was often the small -parts which conveyed the atmosphere of a scene. The garrulous visitor pleased the audience, as garrulous people always did. She was one of those women who must chatter. She could have speeded it up with advantage. It was too often a fault in play performance that one person set a tempo ana the others simply conformed to it, so that, after a time, things began to flatten out and become dead. Tempo was per•faaps oue of the most important things. That was the producer's fault. They must endeavour to follow the rhythm or dramatic flow of the play. Professor Shelley also commented upon the lack of emotional disturbance when the one woman learns that the other has been having an affair with her husband. The two just stood a yard apart and talked as though they were chatting about the weather when the discovery was one that should almost render the'woman speechless. It was not enough to say the words —they must .saturate the scene with flesh and blood. The players had done very well — up to a point. Pandora Musical and Dramatic Society iu "Private Lives” (first act),' by Noel Coward. Players: Doris Hussey, Percy Cousins, Charles Denniston Wood and Gladys

Morgan. The adjudicator said the tone was very good but the action, the flow of repartee, was not bubbly enough. Noel Coward was champagne. It was not quick enough—Noel Coward's hues came like machine-gun fire. There were a good many points which could have been improved upon. Whether it was condemnation or praise he knew not, but those engaged were not skilful enough in kisj'ug on the stage. Hands could be very beautiful —and very ugly. It was injudicious to spread them out fully in the spotlight. Every effort should be made to reduce their size. Then there were positional errors which the adjudicator illustrated. Still, on the whole, it was a very good production. 'The Catholic Repertory Society iu “Ebb Tide,” by Robert Lambert. Players: P. F. Gaines, Monica Neumann, Suzanne Hughes, L. P. Burke, Celia Dwyer, George Reid, H. Jones and J. Barnao.

Professor Shelley said this was a difficult play with a large number of characters ou the' stage all the time. In building up the tense situation in this play, each character must prepare for what was coming some time before. Sometimes that had to be done quite a long time before the climax. An instance of this was when the doctor produced his hypodermic syringe. He should have made greater play with it, as it helped \ to build up the atmosphere of strain among the people (oue of whom is suspected of having taken hashish by accident). The result of this lack of build-ing-up was that the strain was not there. On the whole, however, the performance was very good. Another four one-act plays are scheduled for performance this evening.