SHAKESPEARE'S PLAYS

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIX, Issue 21247, 29 July 1932, Page 12

SHAKESPEARE'S PLAYS

PUBLIC INTEREST WANING NOVEL ENGLISH PROPOSAL Various aspects of the work of Shakespeare as a poet and dramatist were dealt with by the Rev. W. Jellio in an address to members of the Victoria League. Mr. Jellio referred to a statement by Sir Nigel Playfnir, the prominent English producor, that in England it was necessary to face this problem of how to prevent Shakespeare's plays from completely disappearing from the stage. The Elizabethan age was receding further and further, and Shakespeare's language was becoming increasingly difficult to understand. Sir Nigel had stated that the only hope of preserving the plays for production was to translate them into twentieth century speech. There was no indication in the report that Sir Nigel was joking in making this unusual proposal, with' which the lecturer did not agree. In Auckland 25 years ago there were many small Shakespeare reading circles and societies and one large society, which gave public readings to crowded audiences. To-day there were even more reading circles and amateur theatrical bodies, but Shakespeare had been entirely displaced by the modern drama. Unfortunately, there wero many influences at work both in New Zealand and in England tending to direct the interest of readers and theatregoers away from Shakespoare. Mr. Jellie then dealt with the plays, classifying them in periods and analysing the chiof characters.