"THE FORGOTTEN KINGDOM"

Evening Post, Volume CXVI, Issue 25, 29 July 1933, Page 5

"THE FORGOTTEN KINGDOM"

The girls attending Chiltou. St. James_ School, Lower Hutt, have several times achieved marked success with their staging of plays.' But all i previous efforts, excellent as they have been, were surely. excelled last night when they produced'"The Forgotten Kingdom." Added interest was lent to this production from the facts that the play was written by one of the staff, Miss N. V. Mason, and that the music for it, played by a very efficient little orchestra was composed by another member of the staff, Miss E. Benbow. Moreover, as the dresses and scenery, which were charming and effective in every detail, were all made by the girls, parents, and staff, the school can take the whole of the credit for a very delightful entertainment which was enjoypd to the utmost by a large audience of parents and friends. "The Forgotten Kingdom" is a musical fairy story. In it figure the tiine-rhonoured king and queen, : with their" beautiful daughter and the handsomo prince from a foreign land, together with a' chamberlain, countess, ladies-in-waiting, a fairy queen, fairies, elves, etc. The two modern children who stray into this fairy kingdom^ are shown up in their true colours when it comes to dealing with tho evil machinations of the court wizard and with the vegetarian dragon, which, if tho wizard had had his way, would have, become carnivorous and would have devoured the beautiful princess. Arownd this is woven a highly original and clever tale—a tale with a moral for those who have ears to hear and eyes to see with. Of the .acting no praise can be too high, all the performers being entirely word-perfect and without a trace of self-conscious-ness. The' grouping, dancing, dressing, and scenery, too, were charming. The palm for beauty would go to the scene in the dell in the enchanted wood; that for clever stage-craft to the magician's room in the tower. All concerned must be cordially congratulated upon a performance 'of extraordinary merit, and those who attend this afternoon's or this evening's repetition are assured of a treat of a quality seldom available.