International Notes

Summary

A selection has been made from the reports received from our correspondents, those which present material of a particularly interesting kind being printed in their entirety, or largely so. It should be emphasized that the choice of countries to be thus represented has depended on the nature of the information presented in the reports, not upon the importance of the countries concerned or upon the character of the reports themselves.

Australia

While the Shakespeare plays most often produced in Australia are still likely to be those set for the annual school examinations in the different States, there was in 1959 a much greater willingness to experiment with the less popular plays.

Among the principal professional productions in 1959 were the J. C. Williamson King Lear, The Winter's Tale, The Merchant of Venice and A Midsummer Night's Dream. In Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth all four plays were presented by a company led by John Alden and John Laurie. The first three of the plays were also presented in Sydney, where John Alden produced A Midsummer Night's Dream for the Independent Theatre. The other main production in Sydney was the Elizabethan Theatre Trust's Julius Caesar.

The semi-professional and amateur groups in country towns as well as in the cities probably gave more attention to Shakespeare in 1959 than for many years past. In Victoria, for example, the Warrandyte Arts Association presented A Midsummer Night's Dream, produced by Harold Bargent; the Adult Education Association, A Comedy of Errors; the Mt Gambier Theatre Group, Othello (produced by Gavin Dyer); the Swan Hill, Henry VIII, during its Drama Festival. In Sydney, the Genesians produced Julius Caesar and the St Paul's College Mummers, Troilus and Cressida. In Western Australia a production of A Midsummer Night's Dream by the Kalgoorlie Repertory Club in the park at Kalgoorlie won so much praise that the performance was repeated by invitation at the Festival of Perth. (The producer was Senator Seddon Vincent of the Commonwealth Parliament.)