New Zealand Players In A Spirited “Pygmalion”

Press, Volume XCVII, Issue 28513, 17 February 1958, Page 7

New Zealand Players In A Spirited “Pygmalion”

Stafford Byrne’s first production for the New Zealand Players, George Bernard Shaw’s “Pygmalion,” was presented at the Theatre Royal on Saturday evening. The performance was spirited and highly successful, and it seems certain that, wherever they go Mr Byrne and the Players wili be just as enthusiastically received as they were in Christchurch. "Pygmalion” poses the question whether vulgarity puts an indelible mark upon those who possess it. Professor Higgins thinks not, and his transformation of Eliza Doolittle, a Cockney flower girl, would seem to support his idea. In this presentation Eliza is played by Brigid Lenihan, and at the outset it may be suggested, in passing, that the true Cockney vulgarity has a richness and ripeness which it is not within Miss Lenihan’s power to compass. This would not be worth mentioning, the actor’s art being not so much to imitate as to interpret, did it not perhaps explain the slight air of uncertainty that characterised Eliza in Act I. However that may be, her emergence from squalor was beautifully managed by Miss Lenihan. For instance, the tone and manner in which she related, in Mrs Higgins’s drawing room, the circumstances of her aunt’s death and the disappearance of the straw hat exhibited a consciousness of control which turned an every day occurrence like taking afternoon tea into a brilliant stroke of theatre. Anyone can see what is to. be done, but how many can do it? Much might be said, as well, of Eliza’s grace and of her outraged dignity in Act 111. If the expression of such attributes and emotions lies so easily within the scope of the actress’s art. that fact shows the height of her achievement in the latter part of the play. In effect Miss Doolittle in Chelsea and Miss Doolittle in Wimpole street gave Brigid Lenihan a congenial and charming role. Leon Sinden’s portrayal of Henry Higgins obviously sprang from a clear understanding of the possibilities of the character. The effectiveness of the part was increased by the flexibility of Mr Sinden’s voice, by those carefully placed changes of pitch and tim-

ing which did not once fail to grip the attention of the audh* ence.

Mr Linden’s sense of comedy, too. is delightful; but in Act 111 where (as it seems to some), Higgins is presented, by the playwright, as an overbearing humourless crank, Mr Sinden could hardly succeed. So much cleverness in a little room is finally oppressive. The pace of the play tends to flag, and Mr Sinden for all his liveliness could not make Higgens more than a rather disiccated intellectual. Antony Groser is another newcomer to the Players. With his insinuating manner he brought Alfred Doolittle to life as a member of the undeserving poor? In hiS- intimidated state, however, as a victim of middle class morality. Doolittle could not be expected to express himself with equal gusto. Nevertheless his lines were spoken with unfailing relish by Mr Groser, .who is an adept at natural unforced comedy. Colonel Pickering was quietly but cleverly acted by Charles Walker. The voice was authentic, the manner equally so. Almost cylindrical in his tightly buttoned frock coat, he brought to mind Dicky Doyle’s drawings of Colonel Newcome. and no higher praise could be uttered. Barbara Leake, too. gave an elegant, cool performance as Mrs Higgins. With what an air of decision she presided over the tea table in that -attractive room with a view in Chelsea! Another characteristic of Mrs Higgins was the exquisite sharpness with which she saw fit to reprove her son. Mrs Pearce, the housekeeper was* plaved in a rather striking way by Ethel Hobbs. Mrs Pearce’s dignity was equalled bv the stateliness of her speech. She was indeed worthy to keep house for a professor of phonetics. Other parts in “Pygmalion” we r e taken bv Jeanette de Mnn♦alk. Freda Wilson, and Peter Brian. The settings for the play were designed bv Joan and David de Bethel. Their use of colour in the portico of St. Paul’s Church' is striking, and the drawing room in the flat on Chelsea embankment is a most artistic creation. The costumes of the period are just as attractive. ? b —C.E.S.