SHAKESPEARE CLUB

Evening Star, Issue 16409, 27 April 1917, Page 2

SHAKESPEARE CLUB

His Majesty's Theatre was comfortably filled last night, when the Dunedin Shakespeare Club pave a public reading of selections from ‘The Winter's Talc,’ which has been described as Shakespeare's gentlest play. ‘ The Winter’s Talc,’ students will remember, was founded on an old novel by Robert Greene, published in XSBS, and is more in the nature of a light romance woven into dramatic action than a straightout drama. dhe jealous rngo of Lnbntcs, King of Sicilia, which causes him to banish his innocent wife to prison, and to order his infant daughter to be abandoned on a desert shore, brings about less tragic results than suck an unwarranted action might havo done, for the announcement of Paulina that the queen is dead turns out to have been false; while the .abandoned infant returns after many years as the betrothed of Prince Florizel, the son of the King of Bohemia, who had, with Herniione, been the subject of Laontes’s wrath. The only tragic note in the play, indeed, is the death of Mamillius. Lecntes’s heir, who droops and dies of grief at tire inn prisnnrnent of his mother. The reading last night, while to a certain degree successful, could not be counted amongst the dub's best efforts. There were signs of uncertainty in a few instances, pointing to less careful study than usual. It appeared to ua, too, that "in the ease of_ one or two of the characters the cast might with advantage have been rearranged. The charge of careless or hurried study cannot be laid against Mr S. H. Osborn, who made Autolycus the outstanding character of the play. The appearances on the scone of the merry rogue cf a pedlar wore ail too tew. and his exits were the signal for hearty applause for work well done. Mr J. Fleming had the heavy part of Leontcs, and managed it very creditably indeed. The various moods of’the mutable monarch—ungovernable jealousy,''bitter remorse, and the joycusucss following the reunion with his queen being wolf portrayed. M.iss A. Austin was quite at home with the par., of the faithiui and spirited Pauline, her reading being intelligent and sympathetic. A particularly effective passage was that in which Pauline makes to the king the false announcement of Hermionc’s death. Miss Una Owen adequately conveyedthe character of Hermione by her reading. The part did not give many opportunities foy impressiveness. Mr T. U. Bricked was not altogether happily cast as Polixenes, King of Bohemia, for, though correctly enough read in many respects, the kingly dignity was lacking. The part, apparently, had not been deeply studied. Of the smaller parts, that of the son of the shepherd was splendidly read by Mr C. L. Calvert, who got exactly the "right note throughout. Mr H. Chapman made the old shepherd himself just a little 100 silly. Mr K. Y. ylylield might have been given a heavier part than that of Antigonus, who is so quickly put out of action by the wolves. Mr Siyfield can always be relied upon for a sound reading. Mr H. W. Hunter’s Florizel was well "enough done; Mr E. J. Smith’s Camilio was a little lacking in color. Mr A. Saweil (who was a sort of utility man, reading the lines of officers, lords in waiting, and so on); Miss .Merton (whose opportunities as Perdita were limited), and Mr W. B. Quinuell (Clcomenes, a very small part), completed the cast. Miss Ivy Mazengarb was Chorus, but was- not infrequently Jo-, nored by the readers—another Indication of inadequate rehearsal. During the interval Mr J. Leech sang ‘ Angels Guard Tlie-e ’ in such a manner ns to draw from the audience an emphatic demand for an encore. In response Mr Leech sang ‘ I Hid My Love.’