J. C. WILLIAMSON COMPANY.

Wairarapa Age, 7 July 1936, Page 2

J. C. WILLIAMSON COMPANY.

APPEARANCE NEXT THURSDAY IN “FRESH FIELDS.” A very large demand for seats is anticipated when the box plans open at W. G. Perry’s this morning for the performance of “Fresh Fields” at the Regent Theatre on Thursday evening next. The J. C. Williamson company which is to present this notable com-edy-drama is headed by two brilliant New Zealand artists —Miss Ethel Morrison, a native of Wellington, and Miss Elaine Hamill, whose home town is Taihape. Miss Morrison is an experienced actress of established reputation and Miss Hamill’s brief career has been one of meteoric success. Associated with Miss Morrison and Miss Hamill are a number of distinguished artists, including the well-known and talented actor Mr. Harvey Adams, the delightful artist Miss Katie Towers, Arthur Lane, Phyllis Baker, Norman Shepherd, Enid Hollins and Connie Martyn. Ivor Novello, the author of “Fresh Fields,” has had the stage instinct from his youth. He has a list of successes to his credit, but “ Fresh Fields” proved his biggest winner, and it convulsed crowded audiences at the Criterion, London, for over two years. In this attractive play, Mr. Novello has chosen his types with a discriminating eye and with a fine sense of contrast, and he brings into conflict the uncut diamonds of the Antipodes with the more polished and aesthetically set gems of aristocratic England. Briefly, the story of “Fresh Fields” is as follows: An Australian family goes to London and there takes up its quarters as paying guests in the ancestral home of indigent English nobility. In the fading glories of their Belgravia mansion two high-born sisters have come to acknowledge the need of earning extra money in their spare time. The Lady Lilian BedWorthy conducts a newspaper column offering guidance to perplexed persons, while the lady Mary Crabbe as bringing herself to accept the Australians as paying guests, in the most fastidious way and at £7O per week, no less. Mrs. Pidgeon, her daughter, Una, and her brother, Tom Larcomb, are the guests who pay so well, and they ar- . rive lacking all sophistication, from Queensland. From this beginning, the play develops in rich and entertaining comedy.