VIRTUE-IN DANGER

Press, Volume XCII, Issue 27782, 6 October 1955, Page 7

VIRTUE-IN DANGER

THE STAGE

Comedy By New Zealand Players

"Virtue —In Danger,’’ a comedy of the Restoration period by Sir John Vanbrugh, was presented by the New Zealand Players at the Theatre Roval last evening. With “Virtue—in Danger’’ Mr Richard Campinn, the producer, breaks fresh ground in more senses than one. for Vanbrugh is no longer merely a name here, and in addition the presentation itself may fairly be called exquisite.

In its sub-plot Qic play follows the usual Restoration pattern, with a dissatisfied or disappointed wife, a perfidious confidante, the men oi pleasure, and the hoyden heiress. The passage of time, however, has not failed to bring out a certain insipidity which was perhaps always inherent in the manoeuvres of - mauoa ennthu. Loveless and Worthy: nevertheless the pace quickened whenever Lord Foppington and Sir Tunbelly Clumsey appeared on the scene. These two. as played by John V. Trevor and Bernard Shine respectively, were never merely ludicrous: indeed they seemed rather to be imposing sports of nature and comic in the grand style. By contrast they tended at times to reduce the other characters to Lilliputians, the one lighting up the charmed circle m which he moved with a hectic glitter of affectation, the other besotted with rustic brutality.

However, though it is Lord Foppington who makes "Virtue—ln Danger" unique, the play in Mr Campion’s hands offers other attractions besides. It is an enchanting spectacle, a kaleidoscope of discreetly blanded colours that range from pastel yellow and pink to purple and dusky umber The sets themselves are of a surprising ingenuity when the simplicity of the means employed is considered. Against the billowing curtains and the painted screens the characters display themselves, some as old-fashioned and mannered as clockwork toys, others with the precarious balance of a refinement now quite unbelievable. The rustics seem just to have emerged from the kindly earth, while the ladies are fair and fickle to distraction. Everyone speaks with a cynicism, a brutality even, that Mr Campion, who takes no liberties with his text, has not tried to efface or shade away. This contrast between speech and manners is not without its piquancy. As Loveless Roy Patrick gave a suave and beautifully balanced performance. The effortless assurance of his scenes with Berinthia seemed to emphasise at the close of the play his faint suspicions of being himself in the most humiliating of all seventeenth century predicaments. Michael Cotterill made a spirited young adventurer, and Brian Brimer, in the role of Bull the chaplain, brought a caricature to life.

Winsome Wallis as Berinthia and Pamela James as Amanda were always graceful in the direst straits and were fascinating to watch; but since all actresses in Restoration plays seem nowadays to model themselves upon Dame Edith Evans in Congreve’s "Way of the World,” their speeches were not always easy to follow. Judith Robson made a* superb Hoyden; she possessed a great fortune but was potentially a great embarrassment to her husband, whoever he was. Other parts were capably played by Tim Elliot, Mary Baxter, and Brian Bell. The sparkling performance of the last two. together with Brian Brimer. made the coaching scene in the Haymarket something of a tour de force. The settings for “Virtue—in Danger” were designed by Raymond Boyce, the attractive dances were directed by Gisa Taglicht. and David Farquhar arranged the music.

“Virtue —in Danger” will play for a season of four nights in Christchurch. —C.E.S.