*

Fo

In recent years art clubs have been established in many provincial centres.
best is the Trail Art Club, a section of whose 1955 exhibition is shown here.

ay
One of the

urth Stratford Festival is

triumph of Canadian theatre

T’S the fourth year of Shake-
speare at the Stratford Fes-
tival. The excitement is here
again, and the color, the spec-
tacle, the elan. But there 1s
“something more this time —
a maturity and a sureness
never at any previous festival
so authoritatively demonstrat-
ed by the acting company.

For the first time there is
no imported “star”. It is, with
few exceptions, an all-Cana-
dian company.

The inclusion of French-
Canadians is an _ inspiration,
for they add style and inten-
sity.

Whether in principal roles
or minor parts, the individual
performances are clearly de-
fined, incisive, often magnifi-
cent. : :

There is a well-balanced,
cohesive espirit de corps as
logical and ag effective as the
organization in a symphony
orchestra. There is no false
distinction between “stars”
and “supporting. cast.”

The overall directorial em-
phasis is on acting. 1956 at
Stratford is the year of the
actor. And that’is the very
solid achievement of the fourth
festival’s Henry: V and The
Merry Wives of Windsor.

Michael Langham, who dir-
ects both plays, sees Shake-
speare’s theme in Henry V
as “unity through leadership.”
The king is a heroic figure
close to the people.

He unites the English, wins
Trish, Welsh and Scottish sup-
port; seeks unity with the
French.

The play has a_ positive
meaning for Canada today and
its director’s choice of the
French-Canadians was quickly
recognized by Le Devoir of
Montreal when it headed an
exuberant front page story
“The Festival of Our Strat-
ford” — not “their” Stratford,
or just Stratford, but “our”
Stratford.

. * x x

Some unique talents are

combined in the festival —

the directorial guidance of
Michael Langham, the design
by Tanya Moiseiwitch, the or-
iginal music by Louis Apple-
baum and John Cook. And the
actors.

It’s difficult to find new
praises adequately» to assess

the individual performances.
Critical tributes have been
profuse.

One can only repeat, for in-
stance, that Christopher Plum-
mer’s King Henry, sensitive in
characterization, rich in voice,
is the stuff of Shakespeare. His
courting of Princess Kather-
ine, his humor and modesty,
his democratic behavior and
modest heroism, all the chang-
ing facets of a real person —
talking, thinking, seeing —
contribute to a festival tri-
umph. j

Douglas Campbell’s Falstaff
in The Merry Wives of Wind-
sor is not the roaring windbag
butfoon of the stereotypes. His
is the feudal knight, the age-
ing, broken-down, aristocratic
playboy deflated (morally
though not yet in body) and
frustrated among the new
merchant class. I think his life
story is to be read in the bleary
eyes as he silently reflects on
his status after the drenching
in the Thames.

Gratien Gelinas’ eloquence
as the enfeebled Charles VI
of France, and his Doctor
Caius in The Merry Wives of
Windsor, are among the treats
of the festival. He is an actor
whose eyes, eyebrows, hands
and feet conspire to create
theatre.

The Nouveau Monde troupe,
as members of the French
court in Henry V, add a rich
flavor to Stratford and to
Shakespeare. It is more than
accents; it is subtlety, con-
trolled flamboyance, the spirit
of the French language shad-
ing the English word.

In the Henry V_ program
there are 57 actor credits, in
The Merry Wives of Windsor

35 and, even on opening night,
there was hardly a fluff or a
misspoken word. Though some
of our most capable actors
speak only a few lines, they
play their parts with spirit
and impact. :

Langham has brought out
the best in the best actors we
have. His productions appeal
to the senses, the mind, the
emotions. He does not neglect
spectacle, but he also adds the
fuller meaning of character.

Tanyo Moiseiwitch’s
tuming and design give an
added dimension to every

character, distinguishing one
from another and deepening
all.

There were weaknesses, un-
even opening scenes on the
first nights. These minor mat-
ters will undoubtedly be cor-
rected. The main thing is that
thousands are experiencing
superb theatre and are en-
chanted by it. It is something
to cherish until, at least, the
Fifth Stratford Shakespeare
Festival in 1957.

PETER STONE

cos-

Here are some of the 200-singers, musicia

Gina good, trapeze
artists are better

Ore the flying trapeze was
the preserve of the daring
young man and the customers
felt they had got their moneys-
worth when they saw him do
a death-defying triple somer-
sault through space into the
hands of his partner.

Now, it seems, the custom-
ers require all this and glam-
or, too. They want to see
someone like Gina Lollobri-
gida in spangles swinging back
anc forth even if she never
gets around to the triple som-
ersault.

In Trapeze, Burt Lancaster
is a dedicated artist who de-
plores this trend. He holds
that the region below the roof
and among the _ floodlights,
above the sawdust and the
safety net, should be the pre-
serve of skill and steel nerve.
The thrill and breathtaking
grace of a really’ good trapeze
act, he believes, contains its
own glamor.

What Gina Lollobrigida has
to offer, in his opinion, can be
displayed quite effectively at
ground level, and if it’s heights
she wants then a fifth floor
hotel room is more suitable
for her talents than a tra-
peze.

My sympathies are all with
Burt. When Gina is- pouting
seductively in the menagerie,
that’s fine. But when the tra-
peze artists take over from
the actors near the roof of the
Ciraue Bouglione in Paris,
that’s better still.

These exercises in steel nerve
and split-second timing seem

< SRE SS

nsand dancers of the

alarming enough when you

them from the

ground. Director Carol Reed
has made them doubly terrify-
ing by Cinema-
Scope cameras to the circus

look up at

taking his
roof to look down on them —
a masterly piece of directing
even if it makes your stomach
uneasy.

* * *

This is a simple; richly col-
ored picture in which only the
trapeze be taken
seriously.

The tells how Gina,
a trampoline trollop.on the
make, so bemuses the trapeze
partnership of Burt Lancaster
and his pupil Tony Curtis that
they hardly know who’s catch-
ing whom in the air and who’s
dropping to the ground.

work is to

story

The three principals have to
make their way through a
maze of Carol Reed touches
—a dwarf philosophizing with
a giraffe on the subject of
height, the equestrienne run-
ning well behind the horses in
her -husband’s affections, a
snake man extolling the dom-
estic virtues of his pythons in
an effort to sell the act, the
circus owner going about his
chores hand in hand with a
chimpanzee,

It’s all good clean fun —
simple and not too plausible.
It strikes a welcome note in
establishing that sadism and
gunplay aren’t necessary for
thxills and its warmth and
sense of showmanship makes
it well worth seeing.

THOMAS SPEN

CER

Soviet Army Ensemble now

making an eight-week tour of Britain. Only the male members of the ensemble are in the

Soviet Army, however.

July 6, 1956 —

PACIFIC TRIBUNE — PAGE 13