J. C. WILLIAMSON COY,

Gisborne Times, Volume LXXXII, Issue 12527, 12 April 1935, Page 7

J. C. WILLIAMSON COY,

THE WIND AND THE RAIN AND TEN MINUTE ALIBI

Tomorrow night, beginning at 8 o’clock and on Monday evening the J. G. Williamson Ltd., London comedy and dramatic company will stage the New Zealand playwright’s "Brilliant andi very entertaining" comedydrama ‘The Wind and the Rain” and on Tuesday evening they will present the thrilling di-amatic sensation “Ten Minut§ Alibi” which is stall attracting record audiences in London, where it has been running continuously for close on three years. Seats for both, productions may be reserved at Tattersiall and Bayly’s .Playgoers of Gisborne are proud °f the fact that ‘The Wind and! the. Rain” was written, by one who was educated at their own High School, and that he is now being acclaimed as one of the best the stage has known fox; many years. That there is outstanding merit in ‘The Wind and the Rain’ has been proved by the woncTerful triumphs it has- achieved, aioft only in England, Australia- and New Zealand, hut in Axriexica-, France, Germany and Belgium. “There is* no way,” wrote a Sydney critic, ‘of judging whether Dr Merton Hodge is a good medico; there is l , however ample evidence that lie is an excellent playwright. He wrote ‘The Wind and the Rain” and you oo«ld not ask for a hotter example of modern comedy.’ Morton Hodge i\vas born in New Zealand and, on Leaving Gisborne completed his education at King’s College, Auckland. That being -so the playgoers* of: this Dominion should appreciate the fact that he is fiow regarded as the best young playwright in England. The piece is a- deliciously simple story of a young .student’s adventure when ho was trying to quality as* a surgeon at Edinburgh University. He ha-d'icft a'Jill in London with whom he had grown up and whom he expected to marry. Jle met an Anne in Edinburgh. . . ami for five years tlxeir love adventures were idyllic. It was Anne who helped him through his college tasks and his troublesome adolescence. Ho found afterwards he could not well go on without her. . .

So ho explained it all to Jill iix London and went back to Anne in Edinburgh. That is a,ll very simple and sentimental, but glowing, with sati-s( faction to the playgoer who likes to feel olj honest romance in the theatre Lest, it-s sugary incidents become foo "glucous they are tinged with bitter sweetness af times, at others hilari,ouL comedy relieves a tense situation. The characters move naturally and there is no suggestion that they exit merely to make room for whatever performers have the next scene. The action is even in tempo and the dialogue is brilliant, clever, bright and highly amusing. The characters are,, it is said, intei’preted perfectly. George Thi-rhvell is the typical English juvenile, modest, clean and tine and the J- C. "Williamson Ltd. management was fortunate in procuring him for the leading roles in “The Wind and the Rain” and ‘Ten Minute Alibi.” Miss Jocelyn Jlowarth is said 1° be delightful in the role of Anne Hargreaves, and Frank BudIv, Harold Meade Arundel Nixon, Tommy Jay, R. L. Atholwood, Nan Taylor, Gwen Munro. Richard Fair Ronald Roberts were all especially selected for their various roles. The staging and lighting arc features of both productions. “Ten Minute Alibi’ has novelty as well a$ thrills and comed ! y and tlie whole makes an attractive blend of play and perforinancc, of action and suspense. In the drama the audience sees the crime planned in a dream, and later sees its actual fruition. Mr George Thirlwell’s brilliant acting of the principal role, thnt of Derwent, the murderer, has greatly assisted to make “Ten Minute Alibi” a, record success, and Jocelyn Howarth, .who gave us a taste of her artistry in the screen production of “The Squatter’s Daughter” is happily cast in th 0 role of the heroine.