DUNEDIN SHAKESPEARE CLUB.

Otago Witness, Issue 2287, 30 December 1897, Page 55

DUNEDIN SHAKESPEARE CLUB.

The Dunedin Shakespeare Club gave an en- » .terlainment at the Choral Hall on Friday, 10th, v-w.hen' .there was a very large attendance, the -halVbeing crowded. Mr A. WilsoD, presidcat - of the club; who occupied the chair, txpre»sed hjs pleasure at being able to announce thst Jjjea,h Pitcliefcfc would .give an address upon the occasion. It was so long ago since that gtn'lemau had spoken at a meetiDg of the club that - he^would probably have, a greet deal to sajr. Tiffin FiTCHKTT, who was received with applause^, fai.d : In asking me- to say a few WofdsMiy way of introduction to the tutertain--*ment provided for you, the committee of the J&aTfefcp&ara-Club have paid me a high cornpli- . ment. Ibis m*ny*ye*rs since I had this honour. In-the early dayii of the clvb — I suppose it was the eWJy days ; at any rate it was bsfore you Jbad lighted -on yeur present all-sufficing president—:l. gavo more than one address here. I remember that ou one occasion the lats Mr Justice Johnston, a ripo SlnkefpearUn scholar, "tfeibg in *t&e* chair, the readings were from "'•» A« You Lite It, 1 ' and it fell to Mr Burton to > recite the Seven Ages, in which the lines — £«? - Then the Juatice, S In fair rouud belly vmh good capon lived — Jfjseemed an indecently "apposite aWutk-n to the proportions of "the chairman. Taatmust f have been a go'otitqa'ny years »go Aud this is to sayl&'ftb ourfloditty has already had a long life. . Indeed; for an instjj.jjticn.that is purely literary, '^Vd-ib tbe'SameTiitne purely voluntary, it has stftmo-n v«xjuil§mgrkßb'e vitality. This is due - 4n 'htnge djffi r6P , , no " doubt, to the eu-huu?.j<m .*i»<r steady "purpose of some of the original _pjjg!pEb«s$ — in particular, I may rnsntion Mr "VviifonrrrSnd^fr' Burton, who seem still to be /JpKiß^t.cue that the fidd of study lying pfpenHo a Shakespeare cUib is illiraitabh*. "Wijfttevrr belongs to human life and human -OMA&axe^itß^aflilcTious, pabsione, ambitioi.s, its joys and Hs "Borrows, its gna'nass and its littleness, its herojsms and its crimes — of all .^tliyi^h^ke^peate is the opHome. • . .-,, JOich-.-ckafige of niaL.y-onluuj.ed life be drew, ISiAftUtted worlds; and then imagined new. fiyferShs»kespeare club might go on for a long V.JTQ^BfcjJthoat- feeiflg gravelled for lack of matter, "i i. .jr. society «lao ii*clud>-8. in its scop*, as w« J siM-jbUow, the cultivation of the art of reading ? *u*if— thwart, {.hat i.«, of readii>£,as distint*j*h'dd from* "the histrionic art of reciting en >Iki stage ir-acd for this the botnoiuniry is mv h iii&jtJfced 'fe^ 6*6 * "■ '£° read aloud and read ■•veil vim needs Something more than the ability to petfeeive tho autbor'a meaning and catch his spirit ; the organs of voice mufit be edueited ; one !uu*fc War &ood models, muat have ip«oi>* i unity of praclice and submit to critici m. All this is .included, in the pracfciostl work cf the Shakespeare Club. The art of resting- '»lond is taught in ILe public sohool e , probably" «with «oi»e success ; but I am bound to adfeifc'thit it ia very little exemplified in the churches. It would be well if we could Hrake*ftti*3cfivinity students member* of the >-'&k«kßftpe»ra Clvb — that i«,if you would cou-f-ent'ttcjhjkjelthem, which perhaps is doubtful. • Of late years Hie club has been eh guiarly iottunafco .in ita yresident. jii c "Wilson's , s^ri dresses as reported in the. Otago Daily Times hfcvt^rieen worthy of a wider dissemination aud a. more enduring existence than any mere ucweyaper, report could give thnq; 1 ' For 'my own jisri^t \i«.va Ipug turned a deaf ear to £>h»kefp«a:e critics •of the antiquarian «ort — the ary-iis-dasfc cotnpartra of editions and explorers ox itue*' first folio." Probably your president nould shine in that department if he desired ; he has chosen instead to discus* ( ur greatts"; „ jx>et and dramatist; from the point of view cf poeiic and draruxfcic art, which is tho more excellent way. We htve all recognised in (;he -. Sbakenpearion studies that he has given A3 • xddieises before this club a wonderful I j keen •rid sympathetic crit'c.U faculty — also a subtle, all-pervading humour, as well at a certain nameless grsee of style which is the distinction of fche best work'in literature, as in every other art. *"Sffr WdLcoEfis now abtut to leave us oa a Jong furlbugn',.»hd- ! .fhat, no doubt, is why I am here. JSTo-man amongtfc as bettt r deserves -a, holiday, «r would.be likftly to mxke better uee of it in th^clasiioal latids wh'ch Mr Wilson purpo<ea to Vwit. Wd'all with him good luck aud much teogoymeut. And now. having praised the club >nd'~ praised- the- president, my nrxt duty is to 'prsita the poet «nd praise the play. Iv " Tho Merchant cf Veuicc " we are in the realm of - «GBifi£iy — a realm in which the dramatic situations are oddly humorous aud the persons of the drama arc not governed by the ordinary roles of reason »nd common sense. We have first a young Venetian spendthrift, who borrow! money that he may go a-courting. -*Jlie lady ho has in view is a rich heiress, with all the necessary charms of body and of mind. She las many suitors ; and she seems to keep open ioute for them as long as'they remain in attendance. By way of ensuring her a suitable husband .her father, in his dying injunctions, directed her "to marry the first suitor who should guess in which of the three caskets lay concealed her portrait. Portia with all her wealth is to be the piiza of a lucky jmess. Any thres suitors in collusion may make sure that she will full to ■one of them. Nobody in the play eeems to '--think this any other tban a prudent and sensible arrangement ; indeed it is spoken of as one of those "good inspirations" which holy men sometimes have at their death. Following up Ite borrowing incident, we find that Bassanio and bis pecurity Antonio raise money on a three month*' bill, the lender, Shylock and Jew, stipulating that if the bill is not paid he may carve a pound of flesh out of Antonio's breast. ..This transaction is treated rs an ordinary legal icoH^tJict enforcib'.e by the courts. Of course the;bilLis. not paid ; but the tables are turned jjn Sb.yloeK.by Portia, who, -disguised as a lawyer, points out. that though he is entitled to a pound of flesh he may not lawfully spill one drop of Wood. By sentence of the ccurt the Jew is ..amerced of his goods and ordered to become a Christian. Such is a fair account of the pot or structural anatomy of this play. Shakespeare borrowed it from old Italian etory books. What would a modern playwright make of it ? — Th«pitaations are intrinsically absurd, the people behave like luuatics. He would make of it probably a screaming farce, of no higher intellectual quality than " Charley's Aunt." What hai made of ib is a Doetic drama

of so noble J>.nd elevated a cast that we Forget, or entirely fail to notice, the nonsensical character of. tho plot ; wheu pointed out to ua we see it with surprise. The casket scenes, in which the fate of Portia is being decided by a process little belter fLun thimble-rigging, are quaint, dignified, and beautiful ; the trial scene, in its nature a travesty of law and common cense, is one of the most powerful in the whole range of Eoglish drama. The spectator is held between tears and laughter ; it ia comedy, yet nothing in tragedy more deeply stirs- tbe emotions. There are two miuor characters in the play, Loret.zo and Jessica, whoso proceeding", ono would s*y, are essentially farcic*!. Jessica when we are introduced lo her is sending a message to Lorenzo to come and run away with her ; which thing he does, the pair carrying off with them a good share of Shylock'a ducats and jewels. We next hear of Jeesica that she has squandered four score ducats in x night at Gsnoa, and in exchange for a monkey has trafficked her father's turquoise ring which he had from Lesh when he was a b?.chelor, and would not have given for a wiHcrness of monkeys. Lorenzo and Jessica are light characters ; yet, as man and wife, in the first flush of their mutual passioo, they are mads occasion cf some of the most exquisite love-music in exittane. Music it is, though only in -words. I forbaar quoting ; the eceae will be read by experts by-and-bye. This pair of lovers are possessed b/ what some of our modern philosophers condemn as the "pathetic fallacy"' — they imagine that allexterusl nature is in sympathy with them and their happiness. The " pathetic f*ll«cy" is no fallacy at all. The external world txist3 for us only because we know it, and as we know it. Nature we c p3 with them that weep, and rejoices with them that do rej 'ice. The poet i* here, as often, wiser than tbe philosopher. Finally, let me say a word about Shjlock, a character which would readily lend itself to burle«qu j. Shakepeare has impersonated in Shylock the revolt of a whole despised and persecuted race. It is nob so much his personal wrongs that madden this Jew — though Antonio, the typical Cbrietian gfntl-tusn, h2s spat on hi* guberdine, and exiled him "Djf/'and Lorenzo. another Cbri'diao, has robbed him of his daughter and his ducats. It J3 rot »o -much these p>.ivale injuries that he would avenge as thn ag^-lorg denial of common human rights' to men and women of bis bl^o'd It ia the law that has been their opprasior — Chris' isn law ; but Shylock has contrived that for once Chrutim law h on the side of the Jew, and he will vie it to ihe uttermost. "The villainy jou have tiugLt me I will cx-fcnte ; and it sbnll go hard bub I will better the instruction ! " Thus interpreted Shyltck has a tort of inverted moral grandeur; in his ht'itnde of insurrection against the ' hatred, social and religions, lhafc accounted the J&w less than a ican he is colossal; his passion for vengeance is Titanic. Sbakz-speaie never drew a stronger character. And though he is foiled in the end, as the fifn«ss of things requires, we cannot see Shylock depart stripped of everything and converted lo Christianity by order of the courl without giving to hiaj the.tribute of our sympatby, our pity, and, in some degr<e also, our respect. „ ■

At the conclusion of Dean FRcbett'a address, which was well received, Mr Charles Birrett playid a .violia solo, which was receiverf with hfarty demonstra'i'iuß of approv?l. ii/iiss T&iUy Jtcub* subsequently sang "The n'pgel st the window" very pleasingly, atad obtaiued an encore, to which the •iugfr rf-fponded by bowing in acknowledgment of Ih^ compliment faid her. Tho members of thn club gave a rep-ding -from "The Merchant of Venice," the selections undertaken l\f thorn being »ceues 1, 2, and 3, r.ct I ; > cene-s 2, 3, 5, 6, and 8, anh II ; gcenes 1, Z, and Q-, net ll f ; sceue 1, Rcb IV ; aud scene 1, act V. The readiug waa one fcf the Dies!; successful that the club has j.et given, and was greatly enjoyed by thn audience, who applauded each of tbe readers very warmly. Mr Burton, who assumed ihe character of Shylcck, lead bis part with capital effect, and wars secorded an ex-c-'tdir.gly cordial reception. Mr Whitson, as Gratiauo, »lso read intelligently arid well, and in the -fcene where Gr*t'mno banteringiy reechoes Shylock's srntimnuis with regard to the excellence of Po-tia's judgment he was particularly good. Mr Brush (as Bassanio), Mr Webb(asAut- nio),and Mr Thomson (as Loretzi) all acquitted thetn'elres very cred'tably. Miss VTilkie tilled the role of Portia, and ber reading throughout was good, and showed that she had carefully studied the play. Miss M'Keohni*, ns Ncrrissj, and Mi«s H Ida Barton, as Jessies, likewise achieved a fair mea'ure o f success in thpir respective parts. Tho remainder of the cist was made up an follows : — Duke, Mr i?coul*r ; SaUnio, Mr Toslrisinon ; Tubal, Mr Wathen , Launcplot, Mr GAmp'atW. Duriug ths evening the president presented Jeiiia Allan and Archibald Steuhouse e»ch with a pet of Shiikpspearo's works, they being the winners of the prizes offered by the club for the best readers in the public school 1 . Both children belong to the Arthur street School, and in miking the presentation .Mr Wilson eaid he was .glad that they so worthily upheld the tradition of the school, which, in the matter of rending, had always baen good.