“Tobias And The Angel” Is Effective Production

Press, Volume C, Issue 29638, 7 October 1961, Page 13

“Tobias And The Angel” Is Effective Production

“Tobias and the Angel,” 1 the ptay chosen this year by 1 the Christ’s College Drama ' Club, affords great scope for character acting, and, in addi- i tion, has some startling momenta of climax and an i abundance of humorous dialogue. These were features of the performance in the i Civic Theatre last evening that were particularly enjoyed by the audience. i An outstanding scene was : undoubtedly the appearance of Asmoday, the demon, on 1 the wall of Raguel’s garden. The alarming interview with Raphael that ensued was well acted; and the lighting and the emanation proceeding from the charm against evil spirits both proved effective. On the other hand, the pace of the ptey was some- i times slow; conversation in general could have been much more vivacious and audible. At the beginning of Act I a great deal of dialogue failed to reach the audience at all. The strongest performance test evening wm probably that given by W. J. C. Saunders as the Archangel Michael. He has a resonant voice and acts quietly and with confidence. D. C.

Irving', as Tobias, has some feeling for comedy, but was occasionally slow in picking up his cues. Tobit was very much in character as presented by A. C. Wilson. There were some lively moments in those long speeches; but this actor m’ust tak® pains to speak more clearly. R. L Baker's iwterpretataon of Raguel was uniformly successful. He caught Raguel’s air of fussy refinement to perfection. As is usual in plays where boys are seen in the roles of girl*, decision is more apparent than grace. Sara. Raguel’s. daughter. Is the heroine of "Tobias and the Angel” Acted by R. J. Astley, Sara obviously knew her own mind and sometimes marches across the stage like a grenadier. The little number shared by P. J. Spicer, a singer, and J. E. Maxwell, a dancer, wm a fem ot its kind and gave a great deal of quiet pleasure to the audience. Something should be isai-1 as weld about the stage vr* and the lighting, added greatly to the effect of the performance. "Tobias and the Angel” wm produced by Mr A. D. Hart. —C.E.S.