"WINTER SUNSHINE"

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22540, 3 October 1936, Page 11 (Supplement)

"WINTER SUNSHINE"

LONDON SEASON CONCLUDED [from OCR OWN correspondent] LONDON. August 26 After a run of two and a-half months, "Winter Sunshine" has been withdrawn from the Royalty Theatre. It has been an eminently popular play and a financial success. It would undoubtedly have run for a much longer period had it been removed nearer the West End, but all efforts to secure a vacant theatre were without success. Mr. G. A. Thomas, the author, formerly of Auckland and whose wife is a Christchurch girl, although disappointed by the company being unable to secure another theatre, is well satisfied with the success of his first play. An option to produce it in New York has been taken and paid for by an American management, so that there is every likelihood that it will be played on the other side of the Atlantic. Mr. Thomas has written two more plays, one of which is at present under consideration by a London manager. Naturally he hopes that it will be produced during the winter, but at the moment arrangements are indefinite. The hazards of play production in London were once again emphasised this week when Diana Wynyard's new play "The Ante-Room" ran for eight nights only. Her last play, "Sweet Aloes," ran for more than a year. Although "The Ante-Room" had a friendly reception on the first night, it was recognised that the atmosphere of the story was somewhat too sombre for it to be likely to appeal to a wide circle of playgoers. I