Sunday Herald (Sydney, NSW : 1949 - 1953), Sunday 29 May 1949, page 5


Children Cheer Puppet Heroes

More than 300 excited children yesterday watched puppet plays in the first permanent children's theatre in New South Wales.

They cheered the heroes, booed the villains, and eagerly prompted pathetic characters whose lives looked like being ruined by wrong

answers.

The Deputy Mayor of Rand-wick, Alderman G. Dan, opened the theatre at Burnie Park, Clo-velly, yesterday afternoon.

He said: "It is through the selfexpression of children in these theatres and the cultural back-ground they will provide, that the foundation for a lasting national

theatre will be laid."

Many of the plays are written and performed by children. Mr. W. D. Nicol,, who has run a children's theatre in Melbourne for the last four years, has lent special marionettes and costumes f6r the first season of 10 Saturday afternoons. I