NATIONAL THEATRE

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXII, Issue 22100, 4 May 1935, Page 10 (Supplement)

NATIONAL THEATRE

defence of proposal A reply to a suggestion that the National Theatre movement in England should be abandoned in favour of the establishment merely of _a _ repertory company to tour Great Britain and the Empire is made by Mr. Sydney W. Carroll in a recent issue of the London Daily Telegraph. The National Theatre committee has no intention and has never announced any intention of makine a " vast expenditure" upon a building he says. The sum of £500,000 for which it is appealing provides for a sufficient sum to secure the endowment upon which most critics rightly insist. It is necessary to have a new theatre because no existing building in a central position is available at anything like a reasonable price which provides the necessary accommodation for a repertory programme upon a high-class and standard scale. No existing building can bo offered to the movement fit to be classed as worthy of the ideals and standards of the dramatic art of this country and challenging comparison with the State theatres of European capitals. . , The members of the National Iheatre Committee do not believe that they will fulfil their ideals simply by spending an extravagant sum upon a building. They have, indeed 6n their directorate people who are prominently and actively associated with the control of Stratford, the Old Vic, and Sadler's Wells. Nothing that they have in contemplation means competition with any existing theatrical venture. x A National Theatre with its constant change of programme must provide a unique forcing hpuse for histrionic talent. Just as the " dressing " of a play is valuable to its proper effect, so the " housing " of a play may similarly affect its character and its fate. There is more in this " building " idea than some critics allow for. A lovely house makes for lovely work, assists the sensibilities of the actor, adds to the dignity oi; his calling and enhances the scenic values upon which Mr. Gielgud lays such stress.