REPERTORY PLAYERS

Evening Star, Issue 19616, 23 July 1927, Page 4

REPERTORY PLAYERS

TWO SUCCESSFUL PRODUCTIONS The Dunedin Repertory Players are to bo commended for their efforts to place before local audiences productions of merit that might never have had the limelight switched on them but for this enterprise; and it behoves those who believe that tho theatre has some other mission than merely providing a little sensory stimulation, or a temporary escape from .the humdrum things of life, to give every encouragement at this crucial stage of the organisation's existence. Last night’s audience at His Majesty’s was only of fairish dimensions, but it was a' decidedly appreciative one, and there should be "few vacant scats to-night. There is no reason why tho Repertory Players should not become as tDriving a body as the Shakespeare Society, and assist in stimulating interest in the work of a, host of modern dramatists in the same way that the Shakespeare Society has done for tho groat Elisa-' bethan.

The first effort of some months ago was negligible, because thev_ presented a hackneyed farce with nothing to distinguish it from hundreds of other productions from the theatrical stockpot. ‘ Crunch,’ *thc two-act drama that opened last night's ■ bill, was a different matter. . It may .not be a great play—one is safe in averring that it is not—but it has a narrative finesse, an epic sweep, and a-poetic quality that _ immediately lever ,it above tho ordinary theatrical concoction, or at least the type that is hawked about the dominion. Frankly, it could hardly prove a box office success, even if a third act were added to make good the obvious deficiency. The final curtain falls just at the stage when one’s interest has been stimulated to the highest pitch, and When no ordinary dramatist, with an eye on the cash box, would have dared to have brought the proceedings to what seemed an abrupt termination. It must be remembered, however, 1 that ‘ Gruach ’ was really conceived as a prelude to Shakespeare’s ‘ Macbeth,’ and it is fmly by realising this that one can forgive the author for what otherwise might appear an incredible ignorance of the elements of his craft.

Tb®-production ns probably the mst of Gordon Bottomley’s dramas to be attempted in the dominion. Unlike Teats, Dunsany, Flecker, and others who are making - brave attempts to bring back poetry to _ the stage, Bottomley’s dramatic quality is rarely overshadowed by his poetic fancy. The action of 1 Gruach 5 is carried along with the slickness and: slippered case of the popular melodrama. The action of the piece, once the inevitable preliminaries arc disposed of, rarely tarries, but even without this desideratum there would be much to commend it, because of the striking beauty of a good deal of dialogue. If some of it had been attributed to Shakespeare himself, probably the mighty savants who spend a good deal of their lives in fierce disputations over the authorship of the Bard’s plays might not pause from their scholarly wranglings to question the wisdom of such a conclusion. The story briefly deals with an episode in tho life of the wilful girl who is the Lady Macbeth. There would have been no Lady Macbeth had everything continued according to tho desires of Morag, the Lady of Fortingal. Gruach was on the eve of her marriage to cousin Conan, Thane of Fortingal. when Macbetli arrived on the scene and departed with the morrow’s bride. “I have niii away with a. man,” she says in a few harsh words of farewell to the Thane. VVhat exactly that supine lover thought about it all, the audience was never allowed to know, for it was here that tho dramatist ceased to pursue this inexorable woman. “The man has certainly gone, and gone with what lie can take away,” exclaimed the sardonic steward, who by tho way,--supplies the' only light touches in a grim talc. The acting in such a piece is everything, and, taken on the whole, the Players came out of tho ordeal extremely well. It might easily have degenerated into hopeless banality if it had not been for their bravo showing. There was-a tendency at times to declaim rather than to act, apd hero the male characters were not so successful as they might have been, Qu Mjss Bessie Thomson, in the name paid, fell the "chief burden of the evening, and her performance was full of dignity and suavity. It called for ability and unusual drama tie power to maintain the character through two difficult ads, and she was never found wanting. Airs Wakefield Holmes, ns the Lady of Fortingal, found an ideal role, and Airs Gnir, as Fern, Gruar-h’s demure sister, infused all the requisite charm into her work. Neither Mr F. J, Gair, tho. king’s envoy who departed with Gruach, nor Air H. W. Hunter, the bridegroom who lost his wife-to-bo an hour or two before the wedding, quite realised tho possibilities of their roles, but their performance had a good deal to commend it. Air A. R. Gard’ner, who portrayed the steward, made the most of his opportunities. Atiss Shie-la Noiison was only seen once or -twice as Margot, hut was always pleasing. Tho stage management appeared to be in capable hands, and everything went with :i professional slick ness.

A comedy trifle, ‘ ’Op-o-me-lhumb,’ followed, Dio heroine of which was a garrulous Cockney girl who was the “Cinderella” of a. Soho laundry. The littlo lady, chiefly through the medium of a shirt that a forgetful customer had left behind, formed what, the novelists of the ‘Family Herald’ type might describe as a romantic attachment for the owner. Just when little “ ’Op’s ” sky was blackest the knight of her dreams canm for his shirt (and, as most of the audience thought,-for his bride), hut alas! her ’Grace was of the faithless kind, and. from bright comedy one was plunged into deep pathos. Miss Madge Yates as “ ’Op-o-me-thnmb ” gave a truly delightful performance that was both versatile and virnful, and demonstrated possibilities for iho little lady, while the work of Mr A. R. Gard'ncr as ’Grace also readied a. surprisingly high standard. _ Misses Anita Winkel and Thera Vivian, Mesdames A. R. Gard’uer and Frank Dampen contributed their share to the comedy episodes. These productions will be repealed this evening.