SHAKESPEARE’S PLAYS.

Otago Witness, Issue 3829, 2 August 1927, Page 72

SHAKESPEARE’S PLAYS.

THEIR EDUCATIVE VALUE. MR ALLAN WILKIE'S RETURN. After an absence of nearly five years Mr Allan Wilkie and his company of Shakespearean players have returned to Dunedin. His largest and most ambitious season of 1? plays opened at his Majesty’s Theatre this evening, embracing the most complete series of Shakespeare’s works yet attempted by a visiting companv. Mr Wilkie and his colleagues arrived by the late express last evening, and in an interview with our representative he outhis hope for the future. Mr Wilkie may rightly be described as a champion of the classical drama in Australia and New Zealand. He is jirobably the best known of visiting theatrical people to-day and he enlists a deal of public sympathy and support by his whole-hearted adherence to th- best traditions of the stage. The presentation of Shakespeare is, at best, an uncertain venture, but he has proved in recent years that the people of dhe sister countries appreciate higher histrionic ideals. His appearance in New Zealand on a much more ambitious scale than hitherto attempted shows that a merited measure of success has come his wav. and his reception in the north is sufficient indication that the theatre-goers of the Dominion have had their appetities for Shakespearean drama whetted during his enforced absence. After his journey from the north Mr Wilkie looks forward eagerly to his season in Dunedin —a city that has greeted him kindly in the past. Last year a disastrous fire in Geelong put any thought of a New Zealand tour out of the question, but so numerous were his supporters in Australia that a public subscription of over £3OOO once more paved the way for further efforts, the result of which is his appearance in Dunedin with a greatly augmented company and a remarkably extensive repertoire of plays. “It is my profound belief that if we devoted one-tenth of the time and energy to the presentation of Shakespeare on the stage that at present we give to lectures and writing of essays and books about him, we should have a far truer understanding of his immortal works,” said Mr Wilkie. “Shakespeare was one of the simplest and most lucid writers who ever lived, but it must always be remembered that he wrote for the stage—not for the study. He wrote for an audience of whom at least 75 per cent, could neither read nor write, a clear proof that his plays are not difficult of understanding by anyone of ordinary intelligence. It is true that some of the words and phrases of which he made use are now obsolete, but the actor in his interpretation of such lines upon the stage can usually be depended upon to bring out their meaning by illustrative business and by-play. “When a man says that Shakespeare is beyond his understanding, he makes the terrible confession that with all the advantages of modern education and the advance of civilisation in the past three and a-half centuries, he possesses a lower intelligence than his Elizabethan ancestors.

“From the fact that Shakespeare is made the subject of study in schools and colleges arises the belief in the minds of many that his plays in the theatre are neither interesting nor amusing, and they have come to regard it as merely an educational entertainment. Of course, to witness a Shakespearean entertainment must be educational, for all great art is educational, but being the greatest genius the world has produced Shakespeare has left the richest legacy of all the dead, and his plays have a wealth of absorbing dramatic interest and an inexhaustible mine or wit and humour—all clothed in the most exquisite language and abounding with the most profound philosophy. He walks and talks with men in tlie market place; he is present with us in our everyday conversation. Whenever we say jioor as Job,’ and ‘As sound as a bell, or ‘A trick worth two of that ’ we are quoting Shakespeare. When we have a desire to be very modern, and say, . tell what the dickens his name is. we find we have been forestalled bv Mistress Page in ‘The Merry Wives of Windsor.

“In tho delineation of character Shakespeare has no rivals. That th© same mind should have created such opposing characters as Hamlet and Falstaff—Lady Macbeth, and Rosalind —is one of the wonders of tho ages. Another claim that Shakespeare has to our consideration is the fact that ho was not only the greatest poet the world has ever seen t but also the greatest patriot. His love and admiration fop England and for his fellow-countrymen was not merely a belief —it was a passion. Tito typically English sentiment and feeling which he expresses throughout his plays have had an enormous influence upon tho character of the British people. His value as a national heritage is beyond expression.” Thus did Mr Wilkie explain his attitude towards an interpretation of Shakespeare’s art which has again brought him to New Zealand on a tour which offers in Dunedin 13 of. tho 24 plays now his repertoire. In M ellington, he said, the reception ho received surpassed all previous records, and nearly 12,000 school children attended the performances. “I am satisfied,” he concluded, “that tho taste for Shakespearean works on th© stag© has grown since niv last visit, and I am. confident that the five new plays we will present in Dunedin will meet with general approval. These are ‘Henry VIII,’ ‘A Winter's Tale,’ ‘Anthony and Cleopatra,’ ‘Measure fop Measure,’ and “Th© Tempest.’ ”