PLAYS FOR AMATEURS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 21982, 17 June 1933, Page 4

PLAYS FOR AMATEURS

" Fire Tliree-Act Plays.” Foreword by W. G. Fay. London: Ricli and Cowan. (5s net.) net.) "Eight One-Act Plays.” London: Rich and Cowan. (3s 6d net.) British Drama League Prize Plays: “ Experiment,” by Mary Pacldngtou; “They Refuse to he Resurrected,” by N. K. Smith. Nos. 2 and 3. London: George Allen and Unwin. (Is Gd and Is net.) Three-act Play* I Mr W. G. Fay, who was co-founder with Mr Yeats of the Abbey Theatre, remarks in a foreword to “ Five Three-act Plays ” on the difficulty which amateur companies may experience in obtaining suitable plays of recent vintage. At one time, he says, the successful London show could be procured by the amateur company, but to-day, owing to the increased financial returns from play royalties, popular plays are not available fpr nonprofessional performance until long provincial tours have been made and_ everybody has seen them. The plays in this volume are all available for amateur production, and in the ease of at least two of them the reason might be guessed. If, however, they have proved non-commer-cial, or been rejected as professional vehicles on suspicion that they might prove so, that is not necessarily a reflection on their claims to the amateur company’s consideration. Arnold Bennett’s “Flora” is a sufficiently modern play, with a theme which has piquancy if no longer originality. The principal characters are the selfcentred father, a hypochondriac, his capable, still beautiful wife, and his daughter, Clave.' Clare is attracted by a young man-about-town who has a Wife somewhere. Flora, the mother, is, in- - trigued by the thought of engaging in some other occupation, now her daughter is grown up and the house runs itself. The husband opposes everything, and very effectively he makes his selfish protestations, but he is defeated all along the line. ' Thus we have opportunities of seeing Flora as manageress of a successful night-club, and witnessing temperamental scenes between the specialty dancers. When Flora has to make a decision regarding Clare’s happiness she advises her as a mother, then, with an appreciation of her own new aspirations and knowledge, she changes her mind: “You love him, and you must go to him. Nothing else really matters. You can’t marry him, but my blessing shall join you together. You’ll suffer tremendously, but before you suffer you’ll have some happiness. . . , “Heat Wave,” by Roland Pertwee, is set in the Oriental city of Khota, and concerns the preoccupation of the members of the English colony in each other’s .business. The particular object of malicious gossip is Hugh Dawltry, who has a /bad reputation among women. It is inevitable that the fresh young girl on a visit to her relatives should fall in. love with Dawltry, and almost equally inevitable that the purity of their affections should be ultimately proven, to the confusion of the scandal-mongers. This is a dramatic, if superficial, piece, which inevitably invites comparison in atmosphere, if not theme, with “ White Cargo. Yal Gielgud’s “ Chinese White, has the hot and, one is led to believe, elemental East as it s scene, i It is a somewhat violent play, with the introduction of a raid by Chinese bandits to make the apex of the eternal triangle. Mr Gielgud is skilled in sensational theatricals, and the play should go down effectively. The brigand leader is a suave Eastern gentleman in the best tradition of melodrama and the, movies. “ Champion North,” by Theodore Wilson Wilson, which describes the subterfuge of a lover who conceals his real status in order to win the lady, is concerned in part with the breeding of dogs, and "I Want! ” by Constance Holme, is a fantasy which revolves round the pretensions and hypocrisies of a tennis club. Eight ” One-acter* “Eight, One-act Plays” represents, almost regardless of the quality of the items, “value for money,’_ and several are, ’on a cursory, examination, good vehicles for the repertory societies. They consist of {( The Snake Charmer, by Arnold Bennett, a most melodramatic offering which has little to commend it save its brevity; “Thirst,” by J. J. Bell; “Blind Man’s Buff,” by F. Carmichae Brinton, in which a sister has to reveal the part she has played as deputy wife to a man blinded in an accident; Murder Trial," by Sidney Box, another fantasy, which is a clever And satirically amusing, not to say disturbing, comment on British justice and the sensational press; The Second Guest,” by Hugh Beresford and C. S, St. Brelade Seale; “One Hundred Not Out,” by R. Byron Webber; and “ Bjoccaccio’a Untold Tale.” by Harry P bothj these volumes one regrets that there is, with a few exceptions, no indication of first performances and original casts, which are always of interest to readers and amateur The oneact plays are not adequately indexed.

Poor Harlequin ' Mr N. K. Smith’s “ They Refuse To Be Resurrected,” which is published in a series of “ one-acters ” awarded prizes by the British Drama League, contains an idea which should put A check upon those numerous amateur praywrights who insist in reviving the traditional characters of the harlequinade. To the back of i the stage is the author, wrapped in thought, and forward are the familiar figures— Harlequin, Pierrot, and Columbine. When the author scratches on his pad they stir themselves to speak his lines, wopdenly strut their ways, but they are sick —sick and bored —with the performance, and in the end effectively quench his petty inspiration. This i s a whimsical little play, well suited to the company with limited resources (of talent, settings, money), and quite original, even if it owes something to Pirandello.

An Experiment “ Experiment." lives up to its title, since it presents a double scene, on one side a London flat, on the other a tent in the Arctic, and the characters take turn and turn about in their lines. In the flat are three girls preparing for the Christmas festivities, in the tent are the betrothed of two of them preparing for death from exhaustion. It is the third girl who, through her sympathy with one of the explorers, receives across the ether some apprehension of the peril of the men. Whether the experiment could be put across successfully, to an audience is a question. J. M.