INVERCARGILL COMPETITIONS.

Southland Times, Issue 14505, 25 August 1910, Page 6

INVERCARGILL COMPETITIONS.

A SUCCESSFUL OPENING. The Committee of the Invercargill Competitions Society lias good cause to led mated at the great success which yesterday attended the opening sessions ot tins year's festival. The excellent support accorded by the public is the most convincing proof that the Committee conic! have of the fact that its work is being appreciated. AFT EI iNU O N SESS ID N ■ In the aftcrnooi a start was made in tile Victoria Hall with the elocution section, There was a very fair attendance of the public. The judge ( Rev. R. S. Cray, of Christchurch) heard fourteen e;' 111 " petitors in the recitation for ladies, “ Ihe <dd Stage Queen” ( Klla Wheeler yi Hcox). Of these. Misses Carey-W alliicc (.Dunedin), L. AlcCrner tln veivargn 1». and lev Alazengarn (Dunedin) were selected for recall. I,’l.cy will he heard m the Victoria. Hall ul this evening s session. when the awards will be made. Eighteen competitors were also in the first section of the open reciratmn, "Tim i»yir.g Gladiator" iLyron). Ten mole competitors will be hoard at tins afternoon's session when three lr»»m the toiid number will be selected lor call at the evening session, at which the awards will he made.. DKAWi.N'G-KUU.U COM BBT ITULN. The Municipal L'heaire was lilted to cvci'Jlowing at the evening session, when the attraction was the popular competition. introduced by the Society last year. ■'Tile Drawing Room Luterlammeut. Shortlv after half-past seven. His \\ nichip the Alavor (.Mr W. A. nnj, who is President of the Competitions Soviet M came forward to oilicially open the .1,0111 festival. He sail that it must bo c\tiemely gratifying to every nu-mbei of the Socictv to see such .a magnificent audience as Inn. assembled there that lULcht. It was rive years since lluyiiist competition had been held in Invercargill. On that occasion there had been fit, competitors and this year there were lio less than 1520 entries. (,A pplause ). Shakespeare had Lilly said, "There is a tide in the affairs of men, whiclw taken at the Hood leads on to fortune. ~ le Competition Society had taken advantage of the tide and to that was due the strong position they were in to-day. for tile Dunedin Competitions this year there V ere, lie meiitio'ucd. 104S entries, so that, taking into account the relative population of the two towns, the Jnsercargill Competitions occupied the fn ernier position in r ygard to the number ot entries in the whole Dominion. Mr Dtt pointed out, in passing, that the work of the Society ended when they brought the competitors before the judge. He took the opportunity, on behalf of the Society, to extend a cordin' welcome to the Elocutionary Judge, the Kev. R. S. Gray, who came with a high reputation. roc onlv in Christchurch, but throughout the Dominion, as an elocutionist and public speaker. Air Gray had, himselt. Leon a successful competitor at competitions. and the speaker felt sure that his greatest' difficulty would He in not being able to award a first prize lo all the competitors ..’ho came before him. Mr Ott said that he hau very great pleasure in officially declaring the Competitions open. AVilh regard to the competitions for that evening. Mr Ott mentioned that the Drawing Room Entertainment had been giver, in Invercargill first of any-citv in New Zealand, and had since been copied by other Competition Soci-tie-s. It had been introduced last year at tiie suggestion of the Secretary (Air F. C. Biggins), a gentleman who, he took occasion To remark, the Invercargill Society were fortunate in having as their secretary. (Applause). The Rev. 11. S. Cray acknowledged the welcome that had been extended to him. In a few remarks, humorously appropriate to the occasion, he quickly put l.imse f 0.1 excellent terms with the audience. He asked for sympathy in the work he had bee.: called upon to undertake. He understood that lie had to judge 577 competitors, o" 773. he was not sure which. He hoped, however, to get through the ordeal skin-whole, and without having his nerves very much shattered. He assured the competitors that they would all have a fair go for their money. He wished to congratulate the Society on the good work they were doing. The gift of lucid and forceful speech was one of the greatest gifts ot God to man. mu', if the Society encouraged the men to take a greater interest in the art of speaking, ami could make the women —er i Laughter)—speak with greater modnlatio :. should he say, they would have done something to be proud of. (Applause). With regard to the Drawing Room Entertainment itself, an admirable feature was the stage setting. The scene which met the gaze of the audience when lire curtain was first raised was that of an artistically arranged drawing-room, with decorations anti subdued lighting In perfect taste. The entire credit for this effective piece of stuge-craft is due lo Air J. McNamara (of Alessrs Broad, Small and Co.), and when the Mayor publicly acknowledged the indebtedness of the Society' to that gentleman, the

i' uilii.T.ce en'iorsed his remarks with the cordial upptoval villi which they had greeted their first glimpse of tlie ''draw-iiiu-rium," except Uial on the hitler occasion tlie applause was a direct personal compliment to Mr McXamara. Four sets took part in the Competition. and it may he as well to set down tight away the result of the popular kcrcliet (given by means of the voting rarcls supplied to each member of the judienecl as to the respective merits of the entertainment offered. This was recorded as follows . Set. Xo. 3. Mr Ji. It. God ward ami Party HIS Set. Xu. t. Miss Cowan A- I’arty 1 (hi Set, No. 3. At" ). I>. Gillum. :rn I‘arlv ill Met. No i, .I r \. S, Wallace and Parly 31' It may he reaiembered that, when this compel, lion was introduced last .rear, reference was made in these columns, to tlie fact th'P- tlie majority of the competitors did no. present what might strictly be called a drawing-room entertainment, but s ibmilted rather to the audience a series ot musical and elocutionary items in concert fashion, with a drawing-room scent as the stage setting. It was noticeable in connection with last night’s scries at entertainments that a consistent attempt was made to preserve tlie idea >na. a host anti hostess. with their guests, were spending a sociable evening. Anil on these lines, if may be contidently assumed, all will agree that there is room for tlie useful and interesting development of tlie entertainment competition in question. Considerable ingenuity and originality; v. as displayed, and. taken all through, the performances showed a marked advance on those given in kindred competitions last year. Competitors must realise, however, that to present a draw-ing-room scene whuh will sustain the interest of the audience, however much for the purposes of convincing dramatic effect that the audience max’ apparently be ignored, will cause a greater tax oil their ability than the mere deliverance of a series of concert items. For example, much of liie conversation last night was quite inaudible in the body of the Theatre. All Dial was left, therefore. to lake the attention of tlie audience, was the sight of certain nice-looking and agreeable people "behaving th emsel ves." This becomes tiresome, i-iven the constant passing of sweets, effected with never so courtly an air, becomes monotonous when repeated for the tenth time or thereabouts. Also, the vivacious habit of bouncing up and down on Die cushions Of a comfortably upholstered chair or fcofa, though doubtless very exhilarating for Che bouncer, is not calculated to lire the spectator with tie- cheerful spirits that possibly inspire Us practice. These points are mentioned in a general way to draw intention t" the faet that, li> win approval by action alone, without speech, is one of the must difliealt things in Die arl of tic actor. It was chielly for want of some son of (audible,) conversational Irak that proceedings were apt to become slow on occasions last night, and Die audience (who were Die judges) naturally si towed signs of restlessness. That brisk action, appropriate and witty conversation, and individual performances of intrinsic merit, were readily appreciated by the audit net-, was convincingly shown by the overwhelming verdict giving in favour of Air God ward’s parly. Theirs was a cleverly conceived performance thoroughly interesting from start to finish. Air Godward, as host, not only kept tilings moving merrily, but scored a distinct success in his rendering of a clever originality "1 Wonder." The local allusions vary much amused the audience. Airs Mnsscn was a delightful hostess and held the balance between her guests and her clumsy "maid" tone of the last hatch of immigrants;, and her impossibly humorous Uncle Sandy (from whom she "had expectations".) With charming tact. The adventures of the "maid” in question, and the comical uncle (Air Forbes Radio), were thoroughly enjoyed by the audience’, ami were kept within artistic hounds so far as the drawing-room was concerned. Another excellent feat nr- of Ibis enieriaininetit was Die introduction of a graeefnl skirt dance by Miss Clara Mns.-en. As to Die entertainment given b\ .Miss Cowan's parly special mention must 1,,made o I tile Veil eleve, id oto [Lio, ii 1 y Items of Die hostess ber.-d 1, and of li e delightful recitations contributed by to,, liilb- girls who were also important members of tile drawing-room parti. Their contributions were receive,! v. ,; i, prolonged applause. lie- wnik ol (higel was convincing and natural, and was overshadowed in popular la’, our oa!\ by the stiir items of Air God vva rd’s .-it, which had. however, the additional aitraetion of presenting a well defim'd plot. Much of the individual work in Jlr Gilmore's ami Mr Wallaces sets was highlv creditable, but. for reasons above Indicated, their parly was inclined to “hang” and to lose interest from (be ponit’ of view of an audience which was present to he entertained. During Die interval in which the voles W ere being counted songs were pbcmantiv rendered by Air M<-r vice"Anehur-;'d"! and Mr itiehards ("Alary”;.