ONE-ACT PLAYS PRESENTED

Press, Volume CII, Issue 30085, 20 March 1963, Page 15

ONE-ACT PLAYS PRESENTED

Elmwood Players’

Production

A touch of the macabre, with black magic, a mysterious hangman, and a walking scarecrow, was the linking theme in three oneact plays presented by the Elmwood Players in their Fulton avenue ‘ theatre” last evening

The first play, "Dark Brown.” by Philip Johnson, and produced by Jack Rodwell, was marred by the actors’ inability to sustain the pace needed to carry it. Helen Kavanagh and Tony Brittenden. in a brief appearance, brought a little light comedy Alison Alston, an experienced actress, was a delightful aunt. An effective set helped to lift the production.

’Drums of Deliverance” by Aubrey Feist, which was produced by Hunter Bell, is a dramatic play dealing with black magic and murder in a plantation in the West Indies The monotonous beat of drums heightened the tension, and the lighting and set added to the suspense. All the actors played their Barts8 arts well, with Phillipa eville. as a money-grabbing widow with an unsavoury past, and Nigel Bond, as the notorious plantation owner, outstanding. Movement and gesture had been perfected and every actor was at ease. Rodney Leonard would have been more convincing without his American accent. An eerie barn, containing a gruesome scarecrow with some very human qualities, wa. the setting for the Irish comedy. ’The Scarecrow." by J A. Ferguson, which completed the trio. The three actors, Lillian Charleton, Jim Erikson, and Judy Perrott. were all credible both in sccent and characterisation. J A. Ferguson was the producer.

The plays will be presented again this evening, and on Thursday. Friday and Saturday evenings.