WELLINGTON PLAYERS

Evening Post, Volume CVI, Issue 55, 14 September 1928, Page 5

WELLINGTON PLAYERS

MISS BLAKE'S SUCCESS Although not unknown in New Zealand some time ago, it is several years since Wellington has had the chance of enjoying the art of Miss Elizabeth Blake. l<or the past eight years or so she has toured England with her own company, producing little plays, and, what is more, has made a success of the venture, lhat this success was fully deserved Miss Blake (now Mrs. Stanley Natusch), showed last night when, as the mentor ot the Wellington.Players, she thoroughly delighted the large audience which failed the Masonic Hall,' an audience which included a party from Government House. Herself a talented producer and actress, Miss Blake has the power of mfusmg the same good qualities into the company as she possesses, tho result being that the four plays presented last night, although of a very diverse character, Charmed iar more than similar theatrical productions often do. , „ 1 The first of the four productions, each briefly and lucidly explained beforehand by Miss Blake, "The Interlude ot Youth, a morality play at least 400 years old, served to whet the appetite for more. In it the powers of good and evil fight for the possession of youth, victory going to the former. Any conviction that the conversion may have lacked, the fault of the anonymous author of bygone days, was only made of up the charm of presentation. But it was in "The Artist," a delightful comedy for two such as could come only from the fertile pen ot Mr. A. A. Milne, that Miss Blake showed her supreme artistry. She was "she" and Mr. J. H. Lee was "he," and anything better done has seldom been witnessed in Wellington. "Cathleen ni Houlihan,' an Irish play of the troublous times of 1798, by W. B. Yeats, was the third play presented. In it the spirit of distressed Ireland (admirably played by Mrs. John Hannah) stalks the land, enlisting the services of all true sons even to the forgetting of their brides. As a typical Irish housewife Mrs. E. J. Fawcett excelled in this little gem. Tho last play was a sudden transition from Irish to Scotch, from dramatic intensity to broad humour. In the Wooin' O't" (W.: B. Cocker), Mr. H. E. Nicholls was perfect as the tongue-tied Scot seeking a wife and buying a cow instead, Mrs. John Hannah as the desired spouse also being extraordinarily good. In this play Miss Blake took but a small part, one hardly so suited to her as those in the first two plays. A commendable feature of the production of the plays was the simple mounting, careful choice of costume, and absence of long waits between the plays. All those who took part, in the four plays, in addition to those already mentioned, were excellent in their respective parts, the histrionic ability of each showing the fruits of careful coaching. They were Miss Agnes Page, Miss Barbara Robinson, Miss Louise con Zedlitz, Mr. Norman Byrne, Mr. L. H. Herd, Mr. J. R. Herd, and Mr. John Brown. The Misses Kennedy provided what music was required, and that well, and bouquets and compliments were the order of the evening at the close of the performance. The plays will be repeated to-night, and it is to bo hoped that Miss Blake, who has lost no time since her arrival in Wellington, will not be content to rest on her laurels, but will set to and charm us again.