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Show feed Authority. Begins Wirk With AiMcal UtalShakespeamn Festival Utah Shakespearean Festival ' participants have welcomed a long awaited visitor on the campus cam-pus of College of Southern Utah. Mr. A. J. R. Master, MBE, founder-director of the East Africa Shakespearean Festival of Kenya Ken-ya arrived in Cedar City Satur-, Satur-, day. He will assist in prepara-S prepara-S tion of Festival productions to be j staged at the college July 9 i through 25. As he coached mem-I mem-I bers In rehersals Mr. Master ex-j ex-j pressed pleasure at the attitude of Festival participants and supporters. sup-porters. "You can not fail with such enthusiasm all around," he said. I A Privilege I "It is a great privilege to work with the Festivel group," Mr. Master added. "This undertaking is truly a remarkable achlev-ment." achlev-ment." Mr. Master has enjoyed a distinguished dis-tinguished career in drama production pro-duction and is cited as one of the foremost Shakespearean authorities in the world. He Is a governor of the Royal Shakespearean Shake-spearean Theater of Stratford-Upon-Avon ln England and was the first overseas resident to achieve this honor. He stuMed as a student in production at the site of Shakespeare's birth. Later because of his work in the Shakespearean field ln Africa he was nominated as one of 70 governors for the theater. He is also a member of the Board of Directors for the Utah Shakespearean Shake-spearean Festival. Mr. Master is a permanent resident of Kenya and has been responsible in a large measure for bringing quality drama t-.i that country. TMs phase of his career began in 1929 when he Initiated a series of weekly broadcasts in Nairobi. Because of his deep in terest in the works of Shakespeare Shake-speare he began to Incorporate the Elizabethan plays into his programs. In 1933 he launched the East Africa Shakespearean Festival with a full-scale production pro-duction of "Hamlet" His first casts were drawn from white residents res-idents of the area but subsequently subse-quently he has brought a number of African natives Into participation. partici-pation. The Festval productions -made it possible for school children in Africa to become acquainted ac-quainted with a wide variety of Shakespearean works which otherwise could have not been brought to life. Produces Pageants Mr. Master's theatrical activity activi-ty in Africa has not been confined con-fined to Shakespearean drama. He has produced a total of eight major pageants, all on different subjects. He wrote and directed the City Charter Pageant depicting depict-ing the founding and development develop-ment of Nairobi for the visit of H. R. H. the Duke of Glouchester and was instrumental in raising funds for the Kenya Theater " through work on other stage productions. pro-ductions. His pageants have included in-cluded religious and biographical biographi-cal as well as historical presentations. presen-tations. Mr. Master received the order u hiDc paniy tor his wo.k in pagentry and drama in East Africa. Af-rica. Tlie decoration is a royal honor designated as an order of chivalry for outstanding work connected with the British Empire. Em-pire. Mori Consultant In addition to his activity in the theater, Mr. Master has served ser-ved as consultant on movie productions pro-ductions dealing with Africa. As an authority on the Swahll culture cul-ture he has coached actors in dialogue, dance and costuming. Some of his credits Include "The Lion," "Mr. Moses," "The Grass Gets" and "Sammy Going South." Mr. Master became interested in the Utah Shakespearean Festival Fes-tival through Mr. Maurice Crlch-ton, Crlch-ton, president of the Utah Shakespearean Shake-spearean Festival Guild. Mr. Master and Mr. Crichton served together in the Royal Air Force and, later, worked for the same company ln the West Indies. After leaving Cedar City, Mr. Master will visit Shakespearean festivals in Ashland, Oregon; Stratford, Ontario and Stratford, Connecticut. |
