FUTURE OF THE STAGE

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 72, Issue 199, 22 August 1929, Page 8

FUTURE OF THE STAGE

SIR G. TALLIS CONFIDENT NO FEAR OF THE TALKIES Although the legitimate theatre has undergone what ho regards as the worst financial period for more than 35 years, Sir Geoge Tallis, of J. C. Williamson, Ltd., who returned to Melbourne lately from Europe on the P. and O. liner Narkunda, believes that there is occasion for hope. After 12 months abroad, during which he visited the JJnited Kingdom, Europe and the Upited States, Sir George Tallis believes that there is every indication of a continued demand by the public for stage productions. The talkie picture had been regarded even by theatrical managers as fatal to the legitimate stage. Personally, he was inclined to the belief that talkies, with their demand for leading actors, would have the effect of making way for a new generation of players for the stage, whose coming would stimulate progress in its business. It was nothing new, Sir George Tallis added, for the stage to experience such depression. In the past the introduction of motion pictures and of the gramophone had affected the popularity of the stage; but after a temporary reaction the stage had benefited by an infusion of new blood, both in personnel and in production.