LITTLE THEATRE SOCIETY

Evening Star, Issue 22087, 22 July 1935, Page 1

LITTLE THEATRE SOCIETY

AUSPICIOUS PREMIERE CONCERT CHAMBER PACKED Not many bodies catering to popular taste could have made such a conspicuous initial bow ,as did the Little Theatre Society, which emerged from histrionic swaddling clothes donned with enthusiasm only a few days before to grace the stage of the Concert Chamber on Saturday evening. It was in many respects a memorable occasion, ’one in which performance even exceeded promise, the presentation of the three one-act plays which won the coveted prizes at the British Drama League’s festival getting a spontaneous reception from a packed house, which heartily applauded the new society and its'" collaborators, the Repertory Society, and representatives of Mr Stan Lawson’s School of Daneing, \ To this new body Mr F. Jones, M.P. (Deputy-mayor), extended civic congratulations and good wishes before the commencement of the plays, whose presentation will result in mayor s unemployment relief fund being considerably swelled. ‘ Thirst ’ was the first play, and it was brilliantly handled, allowing full effect for the final denouement, and giving the’balanced cast every opportunity of firmly unravelling its tangled skein" of situations. ‘Shall We Join the Ladies?’ with which the Repertory Society won a “ B ” grade certificate at the festival, was notable for the fine work of a large. cast and the most impressive delineation by Mr Douglas : Dali. This Sir James Barrio piece has the problem of the identity of a murderer as its plot, and well did the players interpret its necessary _ qualities. Dominance of personality distinguished Miss Dorothy Clark’s study, the other members who gave good performances being Mrs Wakefield Holmes, Mr W. R. Brugh, Miss Margot Garret, Mr Desmond Greenslade, Mr Maurice Joel, and Miss Dessa Stabb.

Eugene O’Neill, eminent American playwright, found representation in the final (and perhaps the best) play of the evening. His little-known ‘ lie ’ was performed by Miss Jessie M'Lellan (who gave a strikingly fitting display, marking her last appearance before the local footlights for some time), Mr Gordon Niven, and a selected cast. The action of this dramatic fragment, whose locale is set in the unusual setting of the captain’s cabin of a whaling vessel, was an instantaneous success, and was invested with vivid power. It was a performance that won the closest attention. The ballets and other operatic numbers by Mr Lawson’s pupils provided refreshing interludes to the plays, and were, as usual, artistically finished.