ENCOURAGEMENT DESERVED.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume LXV, Issue 11784, 22 September 1913, Page 4

ENCOURAGEMENT DESERVED.

Whilst recollection of the recent performance of "The Geisha" is yet fresh in the public mind, it seems right that "something moro than merely passing attention should be given to the excellent work which the Masterton Amateur Theatrical Society is doing in our midst. The Society deserves such attention for a variety of good reasons. It deserves it, in the first place, on account of the high standard of excellence which an infinite capacity for taking pains has enabled it to attain in its productions. But the Society especially deserves recognition and encouragement on account,of its valuable educative influence, and this is an aspect of its activities which will bear dwelling upon. A little reflection will suffice to show that a considerable number of good qualities must be associated togeth. er in order to produce a successful play. For instance, good judgment and a refined taste are necessary not only in the selection, but also in the staging of a drama —wo use the word drama in this article in its generic meaning. Then there must be restraint in acting so that true comedy, for instance, shall not degenerate into farce or burlesque. There must be free, nat ural and graceful deportment, sound elocution and voice production, and adequate though properly controlled imagination. There must be a true sens.? of discipline, and that most valuable of all qualities, the artistic perception, issuing in the frank and hearty recognition of relative ability and capacity to fill certain roles better than others. The real artist knows that the faithful portrayal of the smallest part is as essential to the artistic success of a production as is that of the princiapl roles, and that it deserves equal praise. In art it is not what you do or how much you do that counts; the test is how you do it. It seems to us that the drama is the only form of art in which the qualities and faculties we have enumerated can be developed and trained simultaneously and harmoniously together, for the drama is the one form of art which aims at the reproduction of all the elements which go to the composition of human nature. For this reason we hold the opinion that a theatrical society is capable of doing more valuable work in the cultivation of art and refinement in deportment, manners and speech than a mere choral or '' competitions" society, though in saying this we do not desire to discount the value of either of the latter, since they afford valuable training ground for the higher, or, at any rate, more complex work of the theatrical society. So much for the value of the Society in so far as its- own members are concerned. But what of the general public? Surely here, too, the Society exerts a valuable educative influence. It is often said that the standard of dramatic production depends upon the standard of public taste. In a prologue to one of Addison's plays, Dr Johnson says: Ah! let not censure term our fate our choice. The stage but echoes back the public voice; The Drama's laws the Drama's patrons give, For we that live to please must please to live. The plea will no doubt serve in so far as professional companies are concerned because they exist not primarily for art but in order to make money for corporate bodies which, Hazlitt assures us, are devoid of souls. With amateurs the case is different. It is true that they also "must please to live," but they can do so very well by producing clean, wholesome and high-class plays, thus maintaining a refined taste in the community, and that, we maintain, is just what the Masterton Amateur Theatrical Society is doing. Now, it is a; very good and somewhat unusual trait in the people of Masterton that they are very loyal to their own local institu-

tions. Wo never hear them discounting amateurs because they are amateurs and local amateurs at that, as people are too fond of doing in some other places. This in itself is encouraging to the Society, and will help to spur it on to fresh endeavours. Tho Society is a live one, with ambitions and aspirations. "Tho time is looked forward'to," it says, "when the Society will have its own practice room and piano,. A hall with a good sized stage and other necessary equipment, and which could, be used as a chamber concert hall, would be an estimable boon to the Society. If a hall such as this could be procured it is safe to say that it would fill a much felt want in Masterton. Perhaps some of our worthy patrons will assist us to-devise a scheme whereby we may attain our object." Here we have the expression of a worthy and entirely legitimate ambition, and we hope that it will attract the attention of some of the more well-to-do admirers of the work the Society is doing. This appears to be essentially a case where it is not possible to confer favours upon a society without at the same "time conferring benefits on the town.