ALLAN WILKIE’S COMPANY

Evening Star, Issue 18160, 28 December 1922, Page 8

ALLAN WILKIE’S COMPANY

’ ‘ MERCHANT;OF VENICE.’ . Shylock is .of peculiar quality amongst the Shakespearean p,ar(s. The star 'ih.m of tho company is practically forced to play .it. There is no other'character in the drama for him. ‘ Othello’ gives an option; sometimes, of choice, tho leading actor is cast ns jingo. ‘Hamlet’ provides a fair opportunity if tho star desires a change, tor Horatio is a scholarly part, a pivot part. ‘Borneo and Juliet,’ in_ tho i-ame way, luva something covetablo in a secondary grade; many big Actors like to have a turn as Morcntio. And there are Macbeths who do not deem it derogatory to appear ns _ Macduff. ‘Tho Merchant of Venice’ provides no alternative. Shylock is and must bo tho dominating figure. This dominance is not merely comparative, but absolute. A great Shylock can almost make a performance; with an indifferent Jew tho best company in the world could hardly achieve a success. In the presentation at His Majesty’s Theatre last night Mr Allan Wilkie most certainly exercised Ids sovereignty to the full. He gave us a governing impersonation of Shylock on lus previous visit to Dunedin. This lime ho filled the singe. Ho was s’ it.” Possibly his added prominence come about in part as a consequence of the satellite attitude of some of tho supporting characters. But, even had they been of tho strongest, tho Shylock of tho occasion would havo dwaned them. Mr Wilkie seems to havo imparted more' fierceness into h.is delineation —higher color; his Shylock is now a perfect volcano of hatred', and somehow or other this hatred seems to be directed more generally towards Christians in common, though, without any twisting of the text. Some present last night may have wished that Ate Wilkie had been loss savage, and given a better •view of tho sidelights in the part, sucli as his Jove for his daughter. As it was presented', with tigerish fury, persevered in to tho end, and even further—for we saw the Jew making to stab Antonio after tho court's sentence—Ate Wfilkio infissed) a point that some of Ida twenty-two predecessors have made, and which we got a glimpse of from, himself on his last visit, the point that comes from sympathising with Shylock, as a broken man, when ho realises that his designs are finally frustrated by his own blind malignity. Audiences havo occasionally felt Sony for tho old man in his defeat, and resented the later gibes of Gratia.no. Last night tho general feeling was that Bhylock deserved -all he got. To bring about such a position is to contract rather than.’ to enlarge the part,. Such is tho natural effect of depicting tho Jew as in a continuous paroxysm. Nevertheless, on the plan chosen, it was on a commanding scale that Mr Wilkie played the part, and it will he remembered as a distinctive and in many ways'® meritorious impersonation. Its scholarship was quite noticeable, and Shakespearean students who witnessed it could learn from •it. Miss Hilda Dorriugton’s portrayal of Portia is to 'bo commended for its dignity and courtliness. She was a queenly Portia. She so controlled the casket scenes as to make them impressive. iShc rose to excellence in tho trial sconei Her fine presence was of great assistance, enabling her to get quite rid of the handicap that gushing and girly Portias Labor under in trying to compel a hearing before the Duke. And in Alias Do nr Lug ton’s regality there was not a touch of acidity to spoil other scenes. She was always gracious and; desirable, and if the sort ot young lady that is approached ceremoniously rather than the sort that invites tropical caressing, maybe that is a truer Portia than some that we have previously seen. Air Leslie Alannors explored quite satisfactorily the important part of Bassanio, giving it an adequate place; and Ate j) Plumptoni Wilson deserves thanks for his nice sketch of tho younger Gobbo. Other leading parts were thus allotted i Air Lockhart as the Due, Mr Neville ss the Prince of Morocco, Mr Henry as the Prince of Arragon, Air Lennon as Antonio, Air Macdonald as Gratia.no, Mr Mooro as Lorenzo, Air Scully as old Gobbo (a clever little characterisation), Miss St. John as Jessica, and Miss Travers as Nerissa. Tho play was weil_ looked after by the stage manager and his staff, and the work of the orchestra was of the sort that helps, ‘Twelfth Night’ is the play lor this evening.