Outstanding Event

Manawatu Times, Volume LVI, Issue 7069, 31 January 1933, Page 10

Outstanding Event

DAME SYBIL THORNDIKE COMING TO PALMERSTON NORTH

J. C. Williamson announce that the only provincial centra to be visited by Damo Sybil Thorndike and her West End London company is Palmerston North, and this memorable event is set down for Thursday next in the Opera H'ou'sc, when Bernard Shaw’s masterpiece, “Saint .Toan,” will be presented by arrangement with the Uherniavsky bureau, London. The following excerpt from the Dominion critique should prove of interest: —‘New Zealand is fortunate in having attracted such a company of artists. As Joan, Dame Sybil Thorndike, one of the foremost of England’s intellectual players, gives a performance that for sheer naturalness and charm could scarcely be surpassed. Without for one instant attempting to bo theatrically winsome, Joan stands revealed as the simple, healthy, strong-minded, ready-witted Maid of Domremy, without any nonsense about her, and seeing naught in life or her “mission” that is subtle or amazing. She only sees her duty straight and clear to mansion's in the skies, and is not to be put. off with any humbug from the stupid-beaded great around her. Only once does Joan vis ibly weaken, when at the thought of all she has dono for France and its ruling King, she is to bo burnt alive as a witch.' Here a high dramatic note is struck. After signing a confession of heresy, sho is informed by the smoothtongued Inquisitor that imprisonment for life is to be her portion, when she snatches the document, tears it into ribbons, with fine declamatory and pictorial effect. ‘Dame Thorndike’s diction approaches perfection. Nothing is ever strained; there is just the required accent or emphasis to convey the precise meaning. No one in the theatre missed a word of her dialogue, nor did any slant, of Shaw’s whimsical or bitter humour fail to register. Her Joan is a perfect study in natural acting at its very best. “What is very appealing about the production is the artistry displayed in the appointments. The colouring, the devices, the lights, tho beautiful stained glass windows, tho brightly divcigent costuming, are part of a perfect piece of tapestry, all in tho manner, all contributing to tho atmosphere. Each scene ends with a tableau, which comes naturally from the action of tho play, and not from any set movement. To Mr. Lewis Casson this harmony of historic and poetic idea is due. Strict attention, too, is paid to tempo, always a vital factor in production.” The box plan is at tho Central Booking Office, and other particulars are advertised.