DUNEDIN PLAYBOX

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23859, 13 July 1939, Page 18

DUNEDIN PLAYBOX

“To Have and to Hold,” a powerful play by Lionel Brown, was presented by the Playbox players, under Mr Russell Wood’s guidance, on Tuesday evening, and attracted a large and enthusiastic audience. It was an impressive performance of a good play and the prolonged applause at the final curtain was merited by a cast that was fairly well balanced and in which there were several fine individual performances. The setting was appropriate, the make-up good, but some of the players could have been more suitably dressed and greater care given to their choice of accessories, etc. The story of “ To Have and to Hold, concerns Brian Harding, a business man turned farmer, whose cousin. Max, suddenly appears from abroad. Brian’s wife and Max fall in love and are about to tell Brian when he meets with a serious accident while trying to ride a horse, and is crippled for life. The concluding scheme is brilliantly written and deeply moving. Miss Alice Clarke can be relied on for sound work, and as the irresolute wife she gave a fine performance Her treatment of the part revealed unusual gifts and understanding, and she captivated the audience from the outset. A splendid performance came from Mr Oswald Stevens as the crippled Brian. Mr Stevens faltered slightly in the first act but after that he gave an excellent interpretation. His movements were splendid, and the poignancy which he gave to many scenes had a visibly telling effect on the audience, In lighter vein, Mr Lionel Stephens provided an excellent contrast as the good-natured indolent brother; of its type Mr Stephens s was the best interpretation seen at the Playbox for a very long time Refreshing zest and elasticity of countenance made Miss Edna Lungley’s Roberta de Winter a delightfully lively performance which proved very popular with the audience. Mr Cecil Oaten essayed the part of Max with a fair measure of success, although he was altogether too matter-of-fact when depth and emotion were called for. As the young daughter Miss Betty Rhodes looked extremely smart and attractive but her performance was lacking in depth and simplicity The onerous duties of butler with many “ properties" to handle, were carried out with nice precision by Mr om Tarrant. The evening’s hostesses were Misses Kgata Bus well Cecilia Millow and D. Dalzicll.