A NOVEL COMPETITION.

New Zealand Illustrated Sporting & Dramatic Review, Volume XVI, Issue 957, 9 July 1908, Page 17

A NOVEL COMPETITION.

As it had never happened before that a new London play was introduced direct from London to New Z< aland, the management of Mr. H. R. Roberts’ company decided, in connection with the initial representation in Christchurch of “ The Prince Chap,” to offer a prize of £2 2s for the best criticism of the play, not exceeding twenty words. The competition aroused the keenest interest among Christchurch plav-goers, and a crowded house witnessed the first night’s performance. Hundreds of papers were handed in at the doors as the audience left the theatre, and with the assistance of a leading journalist the management decided to award the prize to Mr. J. E. Stevens, director of the School for Deaf Mutes, Sumner, for the following:—“A delightfully original play, deeply pathetic, yet sparkingly brilliant, bubbling over with merriment, exceedingly unconventional, but natural throughout.”