DRAMA

Canadians can well be proud of

Stratford Festival achievement —

(FOR those pessimists who still
seoff at «the creative talents

*. af Canadians, there is an answer:
-Go see Stratford.

The idea of an annual summer
festival of Shakespeare’s plays
took form in 1952 in the Ontario
city which lies on either side of
the Avon River. By 1953 the festi-
.val was a reality — and an ar-
tistie success, and a year later
Oedipus Rex extended its scope
and the stature. Now, for the
third season, a new project will
add to greater glory — 22 separ-
ate musical events and the famed
‘French mime Marcel Morceau in

- six performances.

What makes the Stratford pro-
ductions great? Why do they oc-
evpy the foremost rank in the
North American theatre? Why
are they such thrilling experi-
ences for the nearly 2,000 people
wero fill the great tent nightly?

There are many reasons, but
chief among them are these:

At Stratford are gathered a
eross section of Canada’s most
talented actors. Their talents are
guided by theatre craftsmen of
great experience and ability. They
respect and love their art and
work hard at it and, since this is
not a commercial venture for
private profit, they are less ex-
posed to the ‘pressures. which
could compromise or threaten
their high standards.

Not least, there is a very evi-
dent pride shared by actors and
audience — a pride in Canadian
artistic achievement.

The ‘fresh, unhackneyed, in-
ventive direction of the masterly
Tyrone Guthrie, the richness of
speech and fluidity of movement
by individuals and groups, the
“poetic realism” of Tanya Moisei-
witch’s often ‘breath-taking cos-
tumes, to say nothing of her in-
genious stage — all these things
form an artistic unity and provide
the ingredients of high achieve-
ment. :

be 53 Be

Julius - Caesar, which opened ;

the 1955 nine-week season, con-
tinues the festival tradition of
a visually-opulent piece of his-
tory as seen through Shakes-
peare’s quick insight and inter-
pretated by director Micheal
Langham. :
It is a-play about politics, about
a struggle for political power.
Shakespeare, expressing a grow-
ing popular antagonism to the
corruption and intrigues of the
absolute monarchy in England,
' ulilized the conflict between
Brutus and Caesar as his vehicle.
The Soviet critic, A. A. Smir-
nov, says that the playwright
' “eompletely disregarded both the
progressive democratic character
of Caesar’s activities and the re-
actionary tendencies of Brutus,
_ the aristocrat-republican.: Shdkes-
’ peare concentrated on the prob-
lem of power and a ruler’s re-
sponsibility to the people.”
Langham followed Shakes-
peare’s ‘basic pattern. The overall
pichure was not complimentary to
‘ the professional politicians of
Rome. If anything, Robert Chris-
tie’s thighly-stylized Caesar was
more one-sided than Shakes-
peare’s, and emerged as a pomp-
ous, vain, posturing autocrat for
whom little sympathy could be
felt.

Mare Antony, Caesar’s defend-
er, as played by Donald Davis,
was a brilliant demagogue, hand-
some and unscrupulous.

At the conclusion of the great
funeral oration (a scintillating
Girectorial virtuosity in itself) he
pleads with, cajoles, excites and
wins over the Roman populace.

At the opposite pole of the poli-
tical struggle was Lloyd Boch-
aer’s Cassius, a highly-charged

explosive, embittered schemer
who egged on a group under
Brutus and jockeyed them into
the roles of Caesar’s assassins.
Bochner’s Cassius, volatile and
fanatical, appears more honest
than we had thought him to. be.
But the unrelieved high tension
gave us a hot-headed crusader
rather than an evil intriguer.
Brutus, on the other hand, was
the one leading politician for
whom it was possible to feel sym-

pathy. For Lorne Greene, the

characterization was a triumph.

Here was a man of essential
virtue caught up in a bitter con-
test, and surrounded by ambit-
.ous schemers. He ‘was a many-
sided man with a sense of duty.
Thi was ‘a new Lorne Greene, with
a thoughtful, balanced character-
ization, a depth of feeling and
real projection. The warmth and
humanity of his solicitude for his
soldiers made the tent scene a
moving experience.

ER ey Sr
Julius Caesar was followed by

Sophocles’ tragedy, Oedipus Rex, .

built around the theme that the
truth will triumph over every-
thing — over entrenched auth-
ority, injustice, man’s frailties;
that man must ‘pursue the truth
and uncover it and cling to it des-
pite all terrors and calamities;
that the truth will cleanse man
and transform him.

Tyrone Guthrie conceived the
play in the form of an ancient
Greek ceremony.

All characters wear masks,
which enrich rather than stultify
the characterizations. There is
an economy of movement which
heightens the speeches and gives
greater depth to the unfolding
story. There is a_ throbbing

rhythm and melody not only in
te choral speeches and choreog-
‘raphy of the chorus but even in

¥

RADIO-TV

the poetic silences. For this is
épie poetry, universal, challeng-
ing.

The actors, confronted with the
most difficult roles any actors
have ever faced, create a majesty
rarely achieved in the expression
of the human spirit. Oedipus Rex
was presented at last year’s fest-
ival, ‘but it is an enhanced, more
mature production we see now,
thanks largely to Douglas Camp-
bell’s crystal-clear cadences, his
versatility of voice and depth of
emotion.

As the king who thas unknow-
ingly murdered his father and
married his mother, and whose
passion for the truth leads him
to his own exposure and near-
destruction, he is a tortured soul,
but he is also an affirmation of
life.

Robert Goodier as his uncle
Creon, and Eleanor Stuart as the
queen married to her own son,
are heroic figures, complement-’
ing the central role of Oedipus
end, with the wunusually-gifted
actors in, the secondary roles,
driving the tragic events to their
inevitable climax.

eg soy ees:

If Julius Caesar and O€edipus
Rex created a stir, the Merchant
of Venice stirred up a storm.
For months people debated the
propriety of performing the play
at this time in Canada.

It is argued that regardless of
Shakespeare’s intention, the char-
acter Shylock has become a weap-
on of slander and persecution
against the Jewish people, that
six million Jews were slaughter-
ed in our time by the Nazi ex-
ponents of anti-Semitism, and
that the forces which brought
Hitler to power are at work again.

It is argued that -Shakespeare
created a character which has

4

Margaret Griffin, of Aylmer, Quebec (above), was
of the 10 girls chosen to play extra parts in two

~ spearean plays, Julius Caesar and Merchant of Venice, 4%"
Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex in the Stratford Festival. pi
pay of $40 a week during rehearsals and $50 a week during

one
Shake-

of their

performances, $20 weekly is deducted to pay for the dram4 ie

course.

been vulgarized and_ distorted
and thas now assumed its own
identity as a sort of runaway
Frankenstein’s monster. These
are valid arguments.

The Merchant of Venice in our

view is not an anti-Semitic play.

It is a play about the bitter rival-
ries between money-lender and
merchant, about the social and
ecunomic racism.

Ten years ago this reviewer
saw Donald Wolfit’s Shylock in

What do Soviet TV stations

INCE the Moscow television

studio was established the gen-
eration that watched the first
children’s program has grown up
and another generation has tak-
en their places before the TV
sets eagerly awaiting the an-
nouncer’s familiar voice:

“How do you do, children!”

On Sundays the programs be-
gin at 12 noon. At that hour the
studio transmits various  chil-
dren’s “plays, either from thea-
tres or from the studio.

After the performance the
spectators often meet, on the
screen, the authors of and per-
formers in the plays — play-
wrights, producers and actors.
They tell the children how they
worked on the play and of their
plans for the future.

The programs cover every field
of knowledge, for children want
answers to everything.

. They want to know how to

make a glider and how to plant ~

a tree, how to look ‘after the fish
in the aquarium and how to as-
semble an electric motor.

If a program on young natural-
ists is being prepared, plants ap-

.pear in the studio; if trainees of

a factory school come to the
studio, the pavilion is turned in-
to a big workshop. In the studio
one often meets the animals the
children love; not only squirrels,
racoons and monkeys, but real

live ‘bears!

The telecasts are organized on
the basis of previously written
scenarios. Apart from this the
studio also transmits films for
ihe children, the most popular
of which are the animated car-
toons. :

They deal with the many-sided
constructive efforts of the Soviet
people; achievements in science,
technique and culture, the ideas
of humanism and international-
ism, and the struggle for peace.
Very aften well-known authors
take part in the broadcasts.

Sunday is also a great day for
the young folk, for another rea-
son. That’s when those who did
not. go to the stadium of Young
Pioneers can watch any sports
competition on TV. Soviet chil-
dren. love sport, they devote much
time to physical training, and it’s

-not surprising that the sports

programs broadcast over Moscow

television are extremely popular.

In short and interesting talks,

experienced sportsmen tell the

children about morning setting-
up exercises, and how to train
their bodies. \

For those who devote their
time and talents to these pro-
grams the most rewarding ex-
perience is the eager faces of
the young viewers whose inter-
ests they are awakening and de-
veloping. :

feature on children’s program ?

A girl watches a special TV
program for students on the set
jin the school recreation room,

PACIFIC TRIBUNE — JULY 15, 1955 —

er, yes, but a man of strong ek

~ ed by Tubal (Bruno Geruss i

‘every member of the

Toronto. It was a disgustine e
hibition, a stock, burlesaU& th ye
tre caricature in the worst © ion

and with the worst possible
vlications. :

he

Dr. Guthrie’s conception of
play is quite a different © je
and the central charactel, 9 po.
lineated by Frederick V2 tent
comes a real man, a money” iy,
of fierce pride in his PCP tins
man who fights his torment

with every weapon at Bal,’ ig
inan of anger and fury cerible

defeat, a man of cons!
dignity. oo
Valk’s Shylock, in our itt
is one of the great crea sectors
our day. There are few * ise
alive who have the powel jye
magnetism, the inner i
voice or the presence of Freie
ick Valk. He is a giant Wve
minates the whole theatty ook
when he is absent, His Sh”
is a revelation. ean

Nevertheless, inecause he F
usurer (not because he 15 | ap
we cannot admire such 2 ™ eh
any ‘more than we can adm
enemies, ie ere 4
cause they are Christians ”
cause they are money-huns?

And Dr. Guthrie has 40% 3
interesting thing with >?"
enemies. In their ordinaty
they are mostly “nice P
cultivated, friendly and if hy
ing; but when they av! ge
lock and insult him beca¥ gi

oe aol?

our revulsion — all of th
ihe pleasant Bassanio 22°
eomely Portia. es

; oust
The only false note was se

lock’s friend and Me ris
whose make-up and manners
-cft an unpleasant echo.
Re aie
However opinions
interpretations, there Wé
different performances.
actor, whther in leading
ondary or non-speaking on

— was part of the colleen of i
tistry that spells the eX. th?
ay phenomenon know? .
Stratford Festival. -ANE
MARTIN STO"
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