NATIONAL THEATRE PROJECT

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXII, Issue 22094, 27 April 1935, Page 11 (Supplement)

NATIONAL THEATRE PROJECT

INTEREST TO DOMINIONS Support for the contention of Mr. John Gielgud that expenditure on a uational theatre building, a scheme that has had considerable prominence in England lately, is unnecessary, was given by Mr. Shayle Gardner in the Daily Telegraph recently. The scheme advocated by Mr. Gardner provides for a national company of plaj'ers, rather than a theatre building, and for their touring in tho Dominions as well as in England. This suggestion raises the proposal from one of interest principally to British subjects resident in England, to one that concerns the whole Empire, and deserves the attention of those interested in the development of tho theatre in this country. " Drama and acting make a national theatre, not architecture," writes Mr. Gardner. " Good theatres are always available in London, in the provincial towns and in every large city of the Empire. Given a national company of players, sponsored by tho Government, it requires merely managerial skill to arrange for an uninterrupted flow of productions worthy to carry the name of ' national theatre ' to every place where such a company is likely to be appreciated. "To confine the activities of a uational theatre to a building erected in London would stamp the project in the eyes of millions of potential supporters in the provinces and the Dominions as merely another metropolitan, theatrical venture, and thereby forfeit their interest, their support and theii contributions. From past experience, 1 know the welcome that would bo given in every part of the Empire to a national company of players, sponsored by the Home Government, and bringing with them a ' well of English undefiled.' "

Mr. Abe L. Rea, the eminent manager and producer, also stated his conviction that there was no real publio demand for the erection of a new palatial building in London. " The proper course for the National Theatre Committee to pursue, in my opinion, is to use the considerable funds already in their hands in getting their producing organisation together, taking a large existing theatre and showing the public exactly the kind of fare they propose to provide," he wrote. " The English theatre has the finest drama and the finest acting in the world, and it is my belief that this is partly due to the fact that it has never suffered from the handicap of the dead hand of a national theatre."