IRENE VANBRUGH.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 20174, 7 February 1929, Page 11

IRENE VANBRUGH.

farewell to dominion.

ADVICE TO YOUNG ACTORS.

"CO TO LONDON AND STUDY."

Miss Irene Vanbrugh will leave with lier husband, Mr. Dion Boueicault, for England on completion of the present New Zealand tour, never to return again. "It has got to be farewell, much as I would love to come here again," said the charming light-comedy actress yesterday. "There are plays wailing for mo to read in London, and lots of things for mo to do. It will be impossible for us over to undertake a long tour like this

again." On their arrival in England Mr. and Mrs. Boueicault will go straight to their beautiful home at Hurley, on the Thames, between Maidenhead and Ilenley. There, in a delightful rural landscape, only 50 miles from London, they will seek a quiet sanctuary from the rush and turmoil of life on the stage. "I badly want to rusticate," mused Miss Vanbrugh, when speaking of her greatly-missed home life. "We have the most perfect garden—very old—with lovely old trees and yew hedges, closely clipped, and a beautiful rose garden and a natural stream of water twisting and turning among tho lawns and shrubberies. There is nothing I love better than gardening, tending the lawns and flower beds—yes, and growing vegetables. That is one of tho most fascinating kinds of gardening. And then there aro my dogs pining for me—my Airedale, my Sealyham and my Australian terrier. The pets and the garden are the things I want to sec most."

" Very Like England." While home exercises a persistent appeal, Miss Vanbrugh is, nevertheless, deeply sorry to leave New Zealand. " I have come to love your country," she said reminiscently. "It is really very like England in many respects, the people especially so, and I have seen so many beautiful gardens in Auckland like my own that it seems difficult to say goodbye. The people I have met have been particularly kind, and your audiences are quite wonderful. What a pity we shall never come back!

"My chief impression of New Zealand ? I think it is the charm of your children. Never have I seen so many healthy and beautifully cared-for children as I have seen in Auckland. It is really a very striking phase of your national life, of which you should be extremely proud." Miss Vanbrugh thinks there is un-dreamed-of theatrical talent in New Zealand. One New Zealander who has "made good" at Home, Mr. Shayle Gardner, an old Auckland boy, was given considerable help in his profession by the Boucicaults, playing in "The Land of Promise" with Miss Vanbrugh in 1915, and her practical sympathy and generosity have been bestowed upon many, young Australians.

Academy of Dramatic Art. "I do not think I am giving unwise advice to any serious aspirant to the stage in New Zealand when I say, 'Go to London and take a course of study at the Boyal Academy of Dramatic Art,' " said Miss Vanbrugh. "I am a member of its council, Sir Johnston Forbes-Robertson is president, and we have such distinguished members as Sir Gerald du Maurier, Sir James Barrie and Mr. Bernard Shaw. It is undoubtedly the best 'university of the stage' in the Empire, and has been the means of founding a real school of English acting as individual in character as the French school. I do not say it can make actors out of anybody, but it can be of inestimable benefit in helping those who have the natural talent by teaching them ordinary technique. "In deserving cases we are often the means of leading young people into promising avenues of employment. Annually we give public performances at which authors and producers attend, and in this way quite a number of our aptest pupils have received remunerative engagements. The late actor-manager, Dennis Eadie, for instance, made a practice of giving a year's engagement annually to the winners of the gold and silver medals. New Play by Openshaw.

"I think I can safely say that 90 per cent, of England's clever young actors and actresses to-day have all served their apprenticeship at this academy," Miss Vanbrugh added. "Several young Australians have recently gone there on my recommendation, and from all accounts are doing satisfactorily, while Miss Kiore King, a New Zealand girl, who also took my advice, is now with Maurice Moscovitch. Do not imagine it is a simple matter to enter the academy, however. We pick and choose our pupils by means of a stiff .entrance examination to gauge the qualifications of aspiring students, but once there the really worth-while pupil chance of obtaining scholarships which carry free tuition. I need hardly say the school is no place for the slacker, which is a very good thing. Those who enter the academy quickly realise the profession is a life and not a part-time job."

Miss Vanbrugh hopes to enjoy a wellearned rest in her Thames-side home until about August, when she will consider acting in a new play. The author of "All the King's Horses," C. E. Opensliaw, is writing another play specially for her, and she will peruse this immediately upon her arrival. " 'All the King's Horses' is a good domestic play, well written within its compass," said Miss Vanbrugh; "it is a remarkably good composition considering it is practically his first play, and I am hoping Mr. Openshaw will do even better next time."