THE BRITISH DRAMA LEAGUE

Otago Daily Times, Issue 22268, 22 May 1934, Page 5

THE BRITISH DRAMA LEAGUE

In times past Dunedin has witnessed the aggregation of various teams or groups. The band contest fills the streets with bandsmen, a Scout contest is the occasion for an invasion of troops, a seven-a-side tournament will attract players from the country. Perhaps for the first time m the history of this city players of another sort have been attracted to this centre. Mummers from as far south as Balclutha and as far north as Palmerston will be taking part in the festival of the British Drama League, which will be opened at the Concert Chamber, Town Hall, on Thursday next: There are 12 entrauts in all for the honour offered by the British'Drama League. These comprise the Dunedin Repertory Society, the Workers' Educational Association Drama Class, the Thespian Club, the Otago Women's Club, the St. Clair Women s Club, the Columba Old Girls, the Palmerston Dramatic Club, and ' a team from Balclutha. . . :'■* . , A few words as to origins and amis ot the British Drama League may not be amiss. It was founded a number of years ago for the encouragement of drama outside the influence of the commercial theatre. The president is Lord Howard De Walden and the secretary is Mr Geoffry Whitworth, whose wife is the presiding genius of the Children's Theatre Movement in England. The offices are in the Adelphi, and the rapidly increasing library of plays is housed in the room where Thomas Hardy once worked as apprentice to an architect in London. The league is, as it were, a-parent with a number of adopted children. Affiliation to the league doe s not mean the Sacrifice of a clubs individuality. At the preliminary meeting held in Dunedin last year' to consider the formation of-a branch of the league locally, representatives from the Dunedin Shakespeare Club, the Dunedin Operatic Society, the Uuiversity Dramatic Society, and the newly resuscitated Repertory Society were among those who attended. The league seeks to coordinate the efforts of various clubs where co-ordination is desirable. The winning team in the forthcoming festival in Dunedin will bear a hallmark that is recognised all over the English-speaking world. No one i s better fitted to sanction that distinction than Miss Betty Blake, who is to act as adjudicator. Miss Blake has been 'connected with the British Drama League for a number of years, and is thoroughly conversant with its methods and its ideals. Members of the public who visit the festival will be repaid by seeing something more than the acting of a play. They will learn something of the technique of acting aud writing plays from Miss Blake's remarks. Miss Blake will criticise each performance at its close, and her remarks will be found both entertaining and instructive. It might almost be said that the British Dramji League has turned Britain into a nation of actors. The festivals promoted by the league in the Old Country grow yearly in popularity. There are not lacking signs that New Zealand is following the lead of the Motherland in thi 8 respect. Both in Wellington and Timaru festivals of the kind, associated with the British Drama League, have been successfully carried out. Tho league encourages play-acting, and playwriting. On the recommendation of the Publishing Committee, Messrs Basil Blackwell, of Oxford, publish plays under the title of "The British Drama League" series. One play published under these conditions was '' The Singing Heart," pro. duced and revived by the W.E.A. Drama Class in Dunedin. This play is cited afi typical of the British Drama League ideal. It presents no mechanical difficulties to the producer and has a certain literary flavour. Other . plays belonging to the British Drama League series are by Storm Jamieson, the Yorkshire novelist, Laurence Binyon, and A. P. 'Herbert. It is hoped that Dunedin will justify its reputation as an intellectual centre by patronising this eminently intellectual festival.