Actresses Do The Laundry For The Men In The Show

Press, Volume XCVIII, Issue 28825, 20 February 1959, Page 2

Actresses Do The Laundry For The Men In The Show

Two attractive young women on their first tour as professional actresses have discovered that there is a lot more to it than appearing glamo’rously made-up and gowned on the stage every night

They are Miss Mary Goodwin and Miss Joy Rowlatt, who have the two women’s roles in the Southern Comedy Players’ show, “While the Sun Shines,” which opened In Christchurch last evening. They said yesterday that it was their job to look after the clothes and some of the props for the company. This means laundering, ironing and cleaning the clothes worn by the five men in the cast as well as their own.

The young women have bullied the men into using “drip-dry” shirts and hanging their costumes up neatly when they take them off, but it is still a tricky job to keep track of studs, the wing collars worn in the play and other masculine accessories. ‘‘We draw the line at washing their socks,” the girls said, “and though we grumble, we are really enjoying looking after the men, who are, on the whole, very good and orderly with their wardrobes.” The company has been on tour in South Island towns for a month and many stops have been one-night stands. This means packing up the clothes late at night after the show, rising early to reach the next town and unpacking, cleaning, laundering and ironing to get the clothes ready for the performance at night.

with all the practice they have had for the last month. The clothese are hung in calico bags and arranged on a rail inside a truck after the show, ready for an early morning start. Miss Goodwin, who came to the company from an amateur drama group in Methven, acted as assistant stage manager when the company produced “Doctor in the House." . Miss Rowlatt filled in for a brief time in a role in “Sailor Beware,’* put on by the company. She was formerly a teacher, who graduated from the Dimedin Training College. Both young women will begin rehearsing for “Salad Days” when the company returns to Dunedin.

“Sometimes the men have worn half-damp shirts which we have tried to iron dry, but no-one has yet complained of a chill,” Miss Rowlatt sajd. Another chore which they have helped with is cleaning the silverware used in the play—the setting being the interior of a smart Mayfair flat. In the play. Miss Goodwin wears a W.A.A.F. uniform of the Second World War and a day dress and Miss Rowlatt appears in a black day dress and a pair of scarlet men’s pyjamas. The girls said their packing techniques have Improved greatly as they have moved along and they have become much quicker