N.Z. ACTRESS PRAISED

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 20110, 31 March 1928, Page 15 (Supplement)

N.Z. ACTRESS PRAISED

MISS ISOEEL WILFORD. It ia sdiVom indeed that the feat ol an aetrews calls forth editorial notice iu the daily Press. This is • what the Daily _'.i:.il had lo say, however, eonecriiiug .'diss Isobel Wilford. the New Zculuxider*— The ovation given to lsobel Wilfond, who, at a moment’s notice, was called upon to take the place of Miss Tallulah Bunkhead in “The Garden oi' Eden,’ was not only an acknowledgment of a line piece of acting but also a typically generous gesture on lhe part of the public. “There is. indeed, no public in the wuri'l more sympathetic to merit achieved in the race of difficulty than is the Eiigli.'h. it is a great ordeal ior a relalivcly unknown understudy to iiav< to deputise ror a lamous actn.but the public •« quick to appreciate I lie position and to give en-'ourag-’.iH nt and applause. “.ii i.i said, an.l rightly said, that thi! public is \ety loyal to its old favourites, Lut it i» equally true that the public is quick to recognise ability, especially when that ability appears, si. to speak, under a handicap. “There have doom numerous intances of understudies achieving fame in a night. And this is all the more remarkable when we consider that people are naturally disappointed when a ‘star’ does not appear." A later message, culled from the >anie journal says;--“Miss Tallulah Bankbead, who it suffering from a relapse following her recent attack of influenza, was again absent from the principal part in “The Garden of Eden," last night, and Miss Isonel Wilford, daughter of the late Leader of the Liberal Party in New Zealand-, once more deputised for her with much success.

“So enthusiastic was the audience hat following five curtains after the

second act Miss Wilford had to come hurriedly from her dressing room tn her drossing gown and take a personal call."