Other formats

    Adobe Portable Document Format file (facsimile images)   TEI XML file   ePub eBook file  

Connect

    mail icontwitter iconBlogspot iconrss icon

Salient. An Organ of Student Opinion at Victoria College, Wellington, N.Z. Vol. 18, No. 10. July 15, 1954

"Have at Thee, Varlet! . . . . . . Classical Soc. Romps

"Have at Thee, Varlet! . . . . . . Classical Soc. Romps

The Classical Society is a small group of devotees which meets regularly on Tuesday nights to regale itself with treats from the antiquities. Almost traditional is a reading of one of Aristophanes" sparkling comedies. The play on Wednesday 21 was "The Knights" and the cast was star-studded. Rarely have so many academic notables combine! to produce such a humorous evening, Rarely outside lectures have students seen their teachers become the butt of laughter and ridicule.

Before an audience unfortunately depleted by the A.G.M., Messrs. Laurie, Gray, Carney, Hutchings and Qulnn assisted by Miss Stcfania Manterys (as a dumbe showe) and a colossal chorus of five, led by Peter Dronke, performed wonders on the Ogden Nashish translation to really deserve the tardy but nonetheless sincere applause which the small audience accorded their esoteric capers.

The star of the show was undoubtedly the well-known exThcsplan. Patrick Hutchings whose "the storm of elocution is rising here within my breast" was matched by a variety of gestures and intonations surely unforeseen by the buskined players of classical times. To Hutchings physical virtuosity. Mr. Quino added a bewildering range of dialect his major success being an Atto-Irish dialect previously unknown to philologists. Peter Dronke haphazardly waving a riding crop, was accompanied by various barely recognizable personages dressed as jockeys; they were (of course?) the knights.

An unusual innovation at a College dramatic performance was the accompaniment from original Greek music by the College Early Instrumentalists. This music was a success and well worth listening to; a recital of period music could quite well be very well received. The reading was produced by Mr. David Simmers who is to be congratulated upon the galaxy of talent so happily directed.

Ignorant . . .

Lincoin and Maasey showed what ignorant hicks they are by refusing to support the publication of songs of such a high cultural standard as "Beer, beer, we're bccrlng again; send someone out for the gin" when the publication of a new University song book was being discussed at N.Z.U.S.A. Council meeting. In short they took no interest at all in the matter, while Otago's delegates said they had sufficient numbers of the old edition on hand and did not want to spend money on another. Finally, at the insistence of Canterbury, that college was authorised to fire ahead with the new edition and other colleges would report back as to how many copies they wanted

—N.Z.U.S.N.A.