FOUR PLAYS

Southland Times, Issue 25312, 15 June 1935, Page 8

FOUR PLAYS

LITTLE SOUTHLANDERS BRIGHT ENTERTAINMENT NEXT WEEK CHILDREN’S EFFORT In five days from now the Little Southlanders will be able to show the neople of Southland the result of many months of labour, and there-is every indication that the Civic Theatre on Thursday and Friday evenings will be the scene of their most successful play recital to date. These plays, written and enacted by that growing band oi happy young people known as Litt e Southlanders, contributors to the Children’s Page of the Southland Times, offer a wide variety this year, with the result that there will be much for the grown-ups of Southland to marvel at, and for the children of Southland to revel in. The first play, “Rosebuds and Royalty,” written by Cousin Edith McInnes, has its setting in a garden, and Little Southlanders are confident that their industrious preparations will result in the prettiest and most colourful scene ever staged in any part of New Zealand. Flowers of all colours and variety will bloom in profusion — Dorothy Perkins roses, standard rose trees, blossom trees, sunflowers, poppies, tulips, chrysanthemums, sweet peas—and an archway of wisteria leads to an old cottage. It is the childrens hope that no matter what the weatherman is up to outside, the sense of beauty and the memory of song and dancing will linger with the people who come to see them long after the final curtain; and if they can achieve that the Little Southlanders will be carrying out their self-appointed endeavour of bringing sunshine into the lives of others. “Rosebuds and Royalty” tells the story of an old lady, Miss Lavender, who introduces the children at her party to Flowerland, where the Rose, who is Queen of the Garden, and the Sweet Pea, a social climber, are quarrelling. This is a play to charm all ages, and many talented Little Southlanders contribute to its whole. A boyish influence pervades “Doubloons and Dreams,” by Cousin Desmond Stone. Keith is the young dreamer who is introduced into the company of boisterous smugglers, tied up because he has learned their secrets, rescued by a statue which comes to life to free him, is jeered at by his sisters and brother, but still retains his belief in the smugglers of story books, and happenings wilder than the dearest dreams of romantic youth. “The Photo,” by Cousin Eileen McIntosh, reveals a mature pen, and it is a play that will mark an interesting stage in the progress of the Little Southlanders, for it is written by one of the earliest members of the page and its cast includes players who were also among the first Little Southlanders to enrol when the page began in 1925.

Cousin Peter Ferguson dipped his pen in satire when he wrote “A Damsel In Distress” in which a dragon, a talking horse, knights and a distressed damsel take the audience back to the fourteenth century. What is adding considerably to the strength of the entertainment is an orchestra of some of Invercargill’s leading musicians, under the leadership of Mr Gordon Lindsay. The proceeds are in aid of the Kari-tane-Hut Hospital. The box plan is now on view at Charles Begg and Company’s, and it is hoped that on the day of the opening, not a spare seat will be available, as has been the case in previous years. This is an effort by children for children; but in the past they have proved that grown-ups are provided with an evening’s thorough enjoyment.