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Otago Daily Times, Issue 18052, 28 September 1920, Page 4

There was never a time, wo suppose, when, in this as in other communities, the passion for theatre-going was more in evidence than at the present. But it is a case of theatre-going with a difference. A generation is growing up which is in danger of being lamentably ignorant of the theatre. Well versed it may be m picture dramas, but the educational value of these is scarcely to_ be seriously consiaeied. I here "was a time \vhcn opport-u----mties of seeing the legitimate drama expounded by capable companies were quite frequent, even in Dunedin. But such opportunities are now rare. A really mod play, well acted, is nowadays like an oasis m a of cinema extravagances, if l*. mo T les " their uses and merits but th-ey harv© done the theatre proper an ill turn. And it is hard to see where the remedy is to come from. Amid such reflections it, is gratifying, however, to see examples of courage on the part of actormanagers in staging the sort of tiling that is caviare to the picture-loving public -V case in point is the inauguration in" tlu> Commonwealth by Mr Allan Wilkie of a Shakespearean season. There is a prospect that this will amount to more than a ''revival," since Mr Wilkie has evidently secured a considerable measure of mfluential support for a project which, he tells us, is confidently expected to lead to the establishment of a pormanent Shakespearean Company in Australasia. We trust that this hope will be realised. Something ought to be done for the dramatic education of the public. In the meantime it is being left to feed upon sorrv fare and all sorts of histrionic "puerilities and misronceptions. If the project launched by Mr Allan Wilkie be ambitious in one respect, in that he expresses his desire of producing ultimately all the plays of ■Shakespeare which are capable of stage presentation, it is not so in another— namely, that of scenic display. He observes : " I have striven to effect a compromise between the Elizabethan mode of representation and the over-elaborated scenic effects customary on the modern stage. _ It lias long been my opinion that realistic scenic effects, instead of assisting the intelligent spectator, are an undoubted hindrance to the full enjoyment of Shakespearean drama, tending "to divert attention from the acting, necessitating a mntilation of the text, and destroying the continuity of the action." In fact with Mr Allan Wilkie it is toie the

play's the thing," and, as in duo time he is to vjsit Dunedin, we are glad to hear

We publish in another column an appeal winch should interest a section of the pub lie. It is issued by the local branch of the Victoria Leaguo, and invites suWiptions townrrls tho Westminster Abbey Prcservation l'und. It is at the instance of the Ocntra.l Executive of the League in London that tho local branch is moving in this matter. It will be remembered that in tiio appeal for funds issued by him recently tho Dean of Westminster addressed himself to the English-speaking peoples all over the world. lie wrote: "I la 10 v." well, alter residence for over ninb years in tliis p*ace, and I know well from the extraordinary experiences in the Abbey during tho years of the Great War, how dear is this Church to the people of this country, to our brothers ami sisters in Canada. Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, ana India: and, in a peculiar degree, to our brothers and sisters of the great Republic of America. I appeal to them. - ' We do not doubt that Bishon. Rylo gauged correctly tho Imperial sentiment obtaining m respect to the Abbey, and we do not doubt that the quarter of a million asked for will be forthcoming. Tho movement to secure tho amount was heartily token up by the London Times, which issued an admirable illustrated appeal number and which, in its acknowledg- ? i nrl donations, mentioned that tlie first £50.000 had been received within a also observed in the • ame relation : There is a touch of irony »e l tJ \ at while the Government appears to be planning a new and grandiose memorial in the Egyptian stvle the HTeat national memorial of our saints and th o chief and central work of British Art, should bo begging for monev Preserve its hallowed walls from dc-' j tonch of iro "v will bo Admitted. Westminster Abbey is the shrine of some of the nation's noblest traditions, the monuments of its history, the last resting-place of its greatest men. A description of its beauties -would fill volumes Concerning one of them, the Chapel of King Henry VII, a writer savs: "What is there in the world tho equal of this' J? 0 ! f inc ,°. the Pharaohs of Lgypt liar, built for himself so sublime a _ , The Dean of Westminster was not mistaken m counting upon American sympathy. It has been forthcoming. As for IScw Zen.landors, there will not bo a few, we imagine, who will be glad to be represented among the many subscribers to the fund. And. now that subscnptions are invited by the local branch ot the Victoria League. Dunedin people have their chance of contributing to the success of the Abbey preservation project.