ALLAN WILKIE COMPANY.

Gisborne Times, Volume LV, Issue 6153, 10 August 1921, Page 6

ALLAN WILKIE COMPANY.

SHAKESPEARE WEEK. In connection with the revival of Shakespeare’s immortal dramas and comedies at the Opera House on Saturday next, it is most important to note that the box plans for all the plays are now open at Miller’s. The order of tho plays is set out and the I prices and concessions specified. Mr. | Allan Wilkie has brought all his orj ganising ability to bear on the formation of his company of thirty-two j liigh-class artists. His reputation as I an exponent of the immortal works of Shakespeare has spread throughout Australasia, and he stands unsurpassed as an actor-manager in the Southern Hemisphere. Gisborne now has an opportunity of seeing five of these plays presented in a manner worthy of their greatness, and the occasion will prove a most important one in the theatrical history of the town. The season will open with the ever-popular “Merchant of Venice,” in which Sh.vlock (Mr. Wilkie) will be seen relentlessly pursuing Antonio with knife and bond. The brilliant advocate, Portia, will be portrayed by Miss Hunter-Watts, and the full strength of the company will be engaged in supporting parts. On Monday will follow “Twelfth Night,” a play of love and laughter, in which Mr. Wilkie- plays the conceited Malvolio. On Tuesday “The Merry Wives of Windsor,” a rollicking tale of mediaeval English life. On Wednesday, “Hamlet, Prince of Denmark,” the tragedy of a tortured human soul, the greatest problem story in the literature of the world. The season will conclude with “As You Like It,” a light-hearted idyll of pastoral life in tho golden age. Such is, indeed, a I treat for patrons of the stage whose | inclinations are for all that is most edifying and creative of pleasant' memories.