A LIGHTHOUSE DRAMA

Greymouth Evening Star, 9 August 1930, Page 11

A LIGHTHOUSE DRAMA

MR FRANK HARVEY’S PLAY.

New Zealanders will be interested to hear that Mr Frank Harvey, the well-known actor, who has visited the Dominion on several occasions, has written a play based on life in New Zealand.” The characters are William Kell, retired shipmaster and keeper of the light; Henry Cass, his mate; Eileen Kell, his young wife; Gordon Kingsley, a castaway; and Rangi, a Maori “rouseabout.”

- ‘‘This is essentially a ‘strong’ drama of passion, in which the real villain of the piece is the woman, who had grown so tired of Ashburton and the prospect of, school-teaching that she married Kell, whom she met at Oamaru, simply as a means of escape,” states the “News,” in reviewing the play. “The situation in the lighthouse, already dangerous enough when Eileen and Cass are carrying on a secret love affair, is further complicated by the arrival of Kingsley, who has the air of a gentleman and a Wanganui education. These prove too much for Eileen, whose interest in the newcomer drives Cass almost to madness. His discovery that Kingsley is a fugitive from justice, after embezzling the funds of the ‘Otago Building Society,’ leads to dramatic events, very dramatically treated. “The author, who himself, plays the part of Kell, obviously has Cape Farewell in mind in writing the play, and the touches of local colour give it a special interest to New Zealanders. In one of the intervals the orchestra plays Alfred Hill’s ‘Waiata Poi’ and other songs, and it is a pity that this is not mentioned in the programme. The acting of Frank Harvey, Edmund Willard, Marda Vanne, and Louis Bradfield in the principal parts is very good indeed. The play is splendidly produced, and the sight, and sound of the waves boating on the lighthouse are very realist io.”