“A GOOD GEY”

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXIII, Issue 7450, 26 May 1911, Page 2

“A GOOD GEY”

SHAKESPEARE AND WOMEN. MES BENSON'S VIEWS. , Among the great army that has flocked to Stratford-on-Avon for the Shakespeare festival the keenest enthusiasts are the women. There are probably four women to every man among the visitors in tiie ancient town. . Mrs Benson, with whom a "Morning Leader" representative had an interesting discussion on tho point, attributed it to the fact that women take tar moro interest in Shakespeare generally than men. "They are more gripped,” she explained, "than men by serious drama. You will find that it is not men but women who belong to the Shakespeare readings. It is tho tragedy and pathos of Shakespeare that draw a woman, but what a man likes is action—something that stirs his feelings. I always think that the sad side of life appeals more to women, though X do not suggest they are morbid. ' "A woman is not so ashamed of her emotions as a man; she is more -primitive. I am inclined to think that the English people are all rather afraid of their 1 emotions, though it is difficult to imagine' why. Certainly they are not bo in. my own country, Ireland." Mrs Benson considers that it is not the society woman _who displays the keeneA interest in ’'Shakespeare. The people who have a lot of money to spend have too many..sources of amusement to bo able to devote the same attention to Shakespeare that is shown by the woman of moderate means. IMPOSSIBLE WITHOUT WOMEN. "In spite of that," said Mrs Benson, "I am convinced that no Sliaktsj>earcan company would bo able to exist without women. "The Taming of the Shrew' interests them in a comparatively small degree. That is a man's play—indeed, it is one of the most popular of Shakespeare's I>l ays with men. “'Hamlet,' on tho other hand, is essentially a woman's play, X think men are bored with the philosophy. Another pronounced instance is ‘Homed and Juliet.' Even the gallery is.nearly filled with women, when we play that”—whereas men are inclined to call it "rot." As an instance of tho “action" type of play loved by men Mrs Benson quoted "Julius Caesar." It made the _ blood course tlwough their veins, which was exactly what they desired when they went into a theatre, whereas a woman wished to bo stirred only in the matter of her own eniptions. This was particularly noticeable among the Americans who flock to Stratford for the festival in greater numbers every year. THE MAN'S ATTITUDE. Speaking : of audiences, Mrs Benson said she did not think women were better to play before than men. The attitude of the man depended entirely upon whether he had gone to the theatre for the love of the thing or whether he had been persuaded to go as a mere cscort. ."The man who has been ‘brought

makes an atrocious member of tile audience, and bo can’t help it. “Another tiling that must bo considered is that a woman comes to the theatre in a more normal state of mind than a man. 1 He. is so often influenced by w'hat he has just been doing, or he may he in no mood to appreciate a play because he is tired or annoyed. A woman it contented with a banana and a bun when a bad dinner wall ruffle a man to such an extent that ho loathes the finest play ever produced. “If you really touch a man’s feelings you get to a greater depth thnn_ you do in the case of a woman, but . it tabes more to move the man tban it, does, a woman, just as it may take more to rouse the sympathy of a man in any ordinary thing in life, though I think that the real sympathy of a man is infinitely greater than that of a woman. ' MOKE EASILY INTERESTED. “A woman, of course, is more easily interested. Take the. case of a girl who goes to a dance and remains a comparative wall-flower. Even in those dull circumstances she is genuinely prepared to declare that she has had a delightful evening. Would a man? “Again, the woman who has, shallwe say, a very ordinary man as her companion at dinner is quite happy, but the man who had been compelled by fate and his hostess to- talk to a girl who was uninteresting would he far more likely than not to sum up the whole unhappy evening in the simple expression. ‘Ghastly!”’ Mrs Benson's opinion of the modern audiences as compared wiih the audiences of a decade ago is not favourable. To her they do not appear to be half so keen as they were before the various forms of amusement began to multiply. “The people have too many things to amuse themselves with to be keen on anything nowadays,” sho said. “They are growing blase. WOMEN TOO PERSONAL. “I am quite certain that women see .too much of the person who is playing instead, of seeing the character. Often one hears the remark, T don’t think she is the typo of woman to play that part,’ merely on account of the personal characteristics of the actress. I have heard very clover women make that sort' of comment. On the other hand, the man does not care who the woman js so long as she presents the character study projieriy. He dissociates her from the part. A GOOD CRY. “A woman loves to come to the theatre and have a good cry. Something with plenty of sentiment in it appeals to her heart, and it makes her happy in her tears. Also she loves tragedy, and I think that is largely accounted for by the fact that, as a rule, women do not encounter the more serious side of life.”