Story: Actors and acting

Provincial touring company, 1950

In New Zealand and elsewhere, live theatre was severely affected by the rise of cinema. Many performing venues and theatre companies closed in the 1930s and 1940s. By 1950, when this newsreel was made, the country was again considering the possibility of a professional theatre company. A group of semi-professional actors from the Auckland Adult Education Centre toured the North Island with a production of George Bernard Shaw's Arms and the man. This clip shows a performance in the local hall at Takapau, a small farming town in Hawke's Bay.

Using this item

Archives New Zealand - Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga
Reference: Weekly Review 435. National Film Unit, 1950

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How to cite this page:

Laurie Atkinson, 'Actors and acting - Amateur acting, 1920s to 1960', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/en/video/42188/provincial-touring-company-1950 (accessed 19 March 2024)

Story by Laurie Atkinson, published 22 Oct 2014