A MASTER OF ELOCUTION.

Hawera Star, Volume XLV, 21 July 1925, Page 2

A MASTER OF ELOCUTION.

MR. J. C. NEW LANDS. It is long since a Hawera audience had the pleasure of hearing such an exponent of the art of elocution, with tli© ability to rove with equal facility through the work of the masters in English and Scottish literature, as was afforded last night, when Mr. J. C. Newlands, lately Fulton lecturer of New College, Edinburgh, devoted two hours to selections from the works of the best known poets and novelists of the past and present. Mr. Newlands showed himself equally good in all classes of elocution. By his art he made the characters portrayed live again in the minds of his listeners and brought back with vivid realism the scenes of many a. favourite writer.

His programme included Shakespeare, Charles Dickens, E'dgar Allan Poe, Barrie, Sir Walter Scott, Robert Ford, Weatherly, and conouded with a typical Scottish Border ballad. He linked up the various numbers with many an amusing story that kept his hearers highly amused, making an evening that for breadth of allusion aud depth of interest would be hard to excel. Dickens was represented by the immortal Scrooge in the Christmas Carol, and one could see in the mind’s eye til© old hard-hearted rascal as the reciter gave his hearers the well-known picture of Scrooge and Bob Cratchit on the eve of Christmas. It was a masterly presentation.

In the scene from Romeo and Juliet which so vividly depicts the hatred of the two houses, so bitter, and ending in the death of Mercutio’ and Tybalt, Mr. Newlands rose to a great height of elocution. It was altogether good and convincing. He sketched in words, too, in a wonderful fashion, the scene of the “Heart of Midlothian,” and gave a striking demonstration of the genius of Scott in the scene between Jeanie Deans and the Laird of Dumbiedykes. The simplicity and pathos of Peter Pan were brought out in a way that quite touched the heart of his hearers. But perhaps the best of all was the wonderful poem of Edgar Allan Poe, “The Bells.” As an example of elocution it was wonderful. By inflection of voice and by intonation he made the bells resound. Th© reverberation and the tintinabulation, the joyous and the sombre sounding bells were expressed in marvellous fashion. It was altogether a triumph. “The Raven” (Poe), “Th e Depootation” (Ford), Mrs. Corney and Mr. Bumble (Dickens), the most expressive “Oh! Oh! Oh!” (Weatherly), and the martial aggressive “Wha daur meddle wi’ me?” (Border ballad) —these were all equally well done and completed a programme of all-round excellence. It was a privilege to hear an elocutionary artist of such ' outstanding ability, and withal a man with the gift of investing everything he recited with a genuine human touch that quite captivated his listeners. The memory of the recital will live long in the minds of all who heard this great artist.