GOOD CHOICE FOR UNIVERSITY DRAMA

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31128, 3 August 1966, Page 18

GOOD CHOICE FOR UNIVERSITY DRAMA

Jean-Paul Sartre's “The Flies,” which opened a fivenight season in the Provincial Council Chambers last evening is just the type of play a university group should aim to present It is provocative in the extreme, with the playwright rewriting the Orestes legend to highlight Its application to modern man. Apart from the obvious message of its time (it was written during the German occupation of France) it is also a vehicle for Sartre’s arguments about freedom. As a play it is too long and wordy, the themes are too laboured and the arguments unnecessarily protracted. Nevertheless, there is much in “The Flies” that demands attention and respect and the University Drama Society is rendering a service in presenting such a play.

The production, by Barry Empson, is patchy. On the credit side praise must be given for marvellously fluent playing by the principals who, without exception, managed long and repetitive dialogue without stumbling. Acting honours go to Irene Logie,

whose playing of Electra was impressive and moving. Craig Ashley’s Orestes was fine during the first two scenes, but he lacked the reserves of voice and gesture needed to highlight the resolution acquired later in the play.

As Zeus, John Bach was a very mortal-seeming god; Sartre’s Zeus is perhaps pettyminded, but not foolish. Judy Cleine and Brian de Ridder were adequate as Clytemnestra and Aegistheus. On the debit side of the production the carelessness about details that was apparent from the moment the first gold signet ring appeared on stage. Footwear was either non-existent or in the form of basketball boots; beards, in particular, and make-up generally need more careful supervision; and other

anachronisms need attention. It is a pity to see the considerable merits of this production marred by lack of finesse in staging, and it is surprising that the resources of the drama club do not extend to the spheres of wardrobe and setting.