OPERATIC SOCIETY

Otago Daily Times, Issue 22609, 28 June 1935, Page 10

OPERATIC SOCIETY

ANNUAL DINNER The annual dinner of the Dunedin Operatic and Dramatic Society to celebrate the success of the winter production of " The Girl in the Taxi" was held in Lake's Restaurant last evening, Mr W. F. Sligo (senior vice-president of the society) presiding. Mr J. Shannon proposed the toast of the society, and in doing so referred to the place it had found for itself in the community. The disappearance of the professional touring companies since the advent of the talkies had placed upon amateur operatic societies the responsibility of saving the living stage from extinction, and with that object in view the Dunedin Operatic and Dramatic Society was re-formed a few years ago. Since its resuscitation the society had staged 13 shows, and had now risen to be the foremost operatic society in New Zealand. They should pause for a moment to think of the light in which they as members regarded the Operatic Society. Did they look upon it as a purely social organisation where one went along and had a good time, or did they regard it in its proper light—something which they had helped to create and build until it had become a vital factor in the life of the city, supplying a long-felt want to its musical and theatre-going public? It would be quite out of place for him to deliver a policy speech at that function, but in celebrating their success they should think of what they owed to the society. They owed to it their willing services, their enthusiasm, and, above all, their loyalty, for if they could not be loyal to the child of their creation, then it must fail, and he was sure it was the sincere wish of everyone that the society should be a flourishing institution, even when they had passed on. Apart from its value to the community as a whole, the Dunedin Operatic Society, by the outlet it offered to creative work, would enrich the lives of many individuals. It stood for independence and for progress simultaneously, and in it the will to survive was matched by the courage to advance, its strength was great because acting was, of all the secondary instincts, the most nearly universal, and it was also perhaps the most educative when adequately used. Altogether it was difficult to resist the conclusion that some potent force was at work in the society —the spirit of the theatre, perhaps, refusing to accept defeat. Cheerfully the amateur society had shouldered a heavy burden, but, the labour being one of love, its weight was scarcely felt in/ the excitement of advance and exploration. Consequently there was no doubt whatever that the stage would not only live but would increase in stature through the coming years, and observing what it had already done it looked to the society to win for it nothing less than a complete renaissance. Mr W. F. Slieo responded. Other toasts honoured were " Performing Members," " Sister Institutions." "Back Stage and Front of House Staffs." "The Principals." and "The Committee of the Sncictv."