DRAMA LEAGUE.

Timaru Herald, Volume CXXV, Issue 18350, 22 August 1929, Page 2

DRAMA LEAGUE.

ANNUAL COMPETITIONS CONTINUED. i ANOTHER SUCCESSFUL NIGHT. ! i ■! ; Since the inception of the South i Canterbury Drama League three years : j ago, the study of the drama has bej come increasingly popular in the disj trict, and this was reflected in another , very large attendance at the Scottish ! Hall last evening, on the second night of the League’s third annual competi- | tions. j The plays proved splendid entertain- | ment, comprising both comedy and | tragedy, and much credit is due to the ' players, who showed by their perform- | ances that they had given their parts many arduous rehearsals. I During the intervals between the plays, enjoyable musical selections were ■ provided by the orchestra, under the direction of Mr Donald Parkin. Pro- ' lessor J. Shelley, of Christchurch, is \ acting as adjudicator, j The first play of the evening was I “The Bathroom Door,” by Gertrude E. i Jennings, and was played by the Wai- ; mate Workers’ Educational Association ' Drama Circle. The scene represented ' the corridor of a hotel, there being I three doors, the middle one being that jof the bathroom. It is one of Miss I Jenning’s best-known plays, and is a scene from everyday life, appealing especially to those who have experienced I that aggravating wait for the bathroom I in a city hotel. Each of the players try 1 the bathroom door in turn, each withI out avail, and each turns away in disI gust. First the young man in his I dressing gown, a young lady, an elderly gentleman, an elderly lady, and a prima donna. The young man is gallant, but rather plain-spoken; the elderly gentleman shows military im- [ patience; the old lady is nervous that I she will be seen in her unconventional ! attire, but like Cinderella loses her slipper; the prima donna, who has expressed preference for her little tiger pet for her husband; and the sophisticated and modern young lady, who shows no hesitation about looking through keyholes when necessity arises. All provide much good humour. After numerous attempts and unexpected and mirth-provoking meetings, the five

try knocking on the bathroom door to hurry the occupant in his cleansing operations, without avail. The rather morbid, if keen, imagination of the eccentric old lady causes them first to fear that a lunatic has occupation, and later provides them with active fear* that a tragedy has occurred. The prim? donna fears that her husband has com mitted suicide, and much fun is ex tracted from this particular situatioi until the arrival of boots. It appear: that the “ body is downstairs 'aving ’i: breakfast,” and the closed door is easily explained by the boots who knows the trick of opening it when it goes wrong “ Thursday Evening,” by Christopher Morley, was the piece selected by the Timaru High School Old Girls’ Dramatic Association “B” Team, and i 1 also provided many laughs. The scene represented a small suburban kitcher in the modest home of Mr and Mr? Gordon Johns. The play, which was highly amusing, illustrated the troubles

of a young couple whose privacy had been invaded simultaneously by the two mothers-in-law, Mrs Sheffield, Laura’s mother, and Mrs Johns, Gordon’s mother. The ensuing tiff between the husband and wife, which included a number of candid and biting remarks, during which the hot-headed young husband opinioned that “marriage should be performed, not before an altar, but before a kitchen sink,” and charged his wife with being unecono-

mical, kept the large audience in a good humour. However, the two mothers-in-law are kindly, understanding souls, and they put into practice a plan to relieve the situation. The carrying of it out does not lack

I humour, and the ingenuity of the two ] loving mothers fully reunites the , couple, who are blind to each others faults in their happiness. | “Mr Sampson,” by Charles Lee, as I presented by the Timaru W.E.A. “B” I team, called for some fine dramatic acting. The scene represented the kitchen of a cottage on a moorland road in the West Country. Two sisters Caroline Stevens and Catherine Stevens—who are middle-aged spinsters, and fearful of doing anything that “wouldn’t be proper,” have let half of their twin cottage to an elderly bachelor, Mr Sampson. They care for their neighbour well, but this sets the gossips talking, Mrs Grundy not being satisfied with the arrangement. The blunt, honest old Mr Sampson, expresses the desire to take one of them as his wife, but the difficulty of choice arises. “No man could wish for a better wife

than the two of ye,” he‘remarks, but the law naturally will not allow of such a thing. The situation, which is not without its tragedy, provides man) laughs. Carefully-guarded jealousy develops between the two sisters, and for a time it looks as if the offer of marriage will break up a hitherto happy home. Caroline proves the possessor of considerable character, and she arrived at the decision that their tenant must be given notice forthwith. The home, however, is never quite the same after this

episode. ! The final piece of last evening’s sesI sion, “Our Aunt From California” | (Madalene Demarest Barnum), was ; presented by the South Canterbury ; Women’s Club Play-Reading Circle, | and proved a highly amusing character ! study, enlivened by diverting complications caused through mistaken identity. I The scene represented the sitting room j in the home of the Needy’s, somewhere in America- The three sisters— Felicia Needy, cultured and serious;#' Rosalie Needy, fashionable, but indolent, and Sally Needy, who found plea- ' sure in amateur dramatics, receive a telegram from their mother, who is away from home, informing them that their rich aunt from California will visit them that day. and proposes taking one of the girls with her on a tour to Europe. She intimates that the aunt is fond of high spirits and

I fun, and disapproves of long faces. Sally, unknown to the others, receives a second telegram advising that their aunt W'ill not arrive that day after all. She conceives the idea of dressing up in Mrs Malaprop’s costume, which the others have not yet seen, and impersonates the aunt. Much amusement is caused by Felicia and Rosalie’s endeavours to attract the imposter. The real aunt arrives in the middle of her impersonation, and there is a general confusion of identity, which is finally cleared up by the unexpected return of the mother, just in time to save the aunt being marched off to the police station as a suspect. Not a few of the many laughs were caused by the “malaprops” dropped by Sally. The competitions will be concluded to-night, when four more plays will be presented.