HELPING THE BARD.

Southland Times, Issue 20897, 5 October 1929, Page 6

HELPING THE BARD.

With the approval of the House the Government is voting a subsidy of £B5O to Mr Allan Wilkie to assist him in presenting performances of Shakespeare in this country at prices that bring the appeal of the great dramatist to every man, woman and child. The subsidy is approved as an educational measure and there will be a general feeling of .pleasure as a result of this step. Mr Wilkie has carried on a brave campaign bravely. It has often been said, with a sneer at the taste of tho present age, that Shakespeare cannot bo played profitably. Probably Mr Wilkie has not disproved his contention altogether, because at the end of many years of effort he cannot boast any financial results to show that large profits can be made in this way, but he has the satisfaction of knowing that the public generally is grateful, and that his efforts have been appreciated. His Majesty has been pleased to honour Mr Wilkie and thus to recognize the worth of his efforts to keep Shakespeare on the stage, but the wearing of a distinguished insignia is not enough to keep a Shakespearean enterprise in being. Governments in Australia have been practical in their assistance by lightening the cost of transportation, and it is pleasing to see that New Zealand has come into line by practical encouragement. Shakespeare on the stage, however much opinions may differ about the interpretations, is better than Shakespeare in the books. The great poet-dramatist wrote for the stage, not for the library and no teachers can put life into the plays as an actor can. Where Shakespeare is acted most frequently there will his plays be most frequently read and studied, and in this way the Government has done a great deal to enlarge the interest in and the influence of the national poet.