Salient. An Organ of Student Opinion at Victoria College, Wellington, N.Z. Vol. 14, No. 13. October 4, 1951

Delusions of Grandeur

Delusions of Grandeur

It was hoped, when the plans for a (suitably disguised) college theatre were being discussed, that this might be only the first step in a whole programme of drama development. Why should there not be a Lecturere in Drama, a member of the Arts Faculty who was a trained and experienced producer, to give expert supervision and direction? Such an appointment could hardly be made in an overcrowded college with no facilities for rehearsal or production: once a theatre existed, it became possible. There was strong support for the idea from several college departments.

Even the University of Oxford, it was pointed out, had been flirting with similar notions. In the last year of the war, with the aid of a grant from Sir Alexander Korda, a four-man Drama Commission from Oxford visited the U.S.A. to sec what was being done with drama in American universities. The report of this Commission, with a supplementary architectural report by Frederick Gibberd, was published in a handsome volume by the Oxford University Press in 1948. (The book is in the college library, and should be consulted by all who are interested in the serious study of drama—the plans for an Oxford University Theatre, embodying a brilliant adaptation of classical, Renaissance, Restoration and modem stages in a single building, are quite fascinating. Unfortunately, the building would cost at least £200,000!