Leisurely Performance Of “By Candle Light”

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31375, 22 May 1967, Page 12

Leisurely Performance Of “By Candle Light”

Saturday night's audience at the Civic Theatre saw a production, so leisurely that it was obviously intended for audiences with more time and patience than those of today. Canterbury Repertory’s second presentation for 1967, “By Candle Light,” by Siegfried Geyer, is a light, saucy, drawing-room comedy, which if played in a smaller area, and at almost twice Saturday night’s pace, would be extremely amusing and most entertaining. Although the Repertory stage is a reasonable size for most drawing-room comedies the full stage of the Civic is far too large and the attractive period furniture was lost in the vast area, as were the actors. Long, unhurried moves from one side of the stage to the other did nothing to help pace. Members of Heath Joyce’s cast were, on the whole, talented but seemed under-re-hearsed (the prompt was kept very busy from the beginning of the second act). The acting was a confusing mixture of styles, from Terry Whitehand’s and Neil Dolheguy’s rather heavy farcical touch, to Selwyn Hamblett’s and Phillipa Perkins’s lighter, more realistic one.

Selwyn Hamblett, as the Baron Egon Von Felson, was reassuringly at home in his role and brought to the evening its few genuinely funny touches. His holding aloft of a hot water bottle at the end of Act I will not easily be forgotten. However, his re-

laxed playing also helped to slow the action.

Only Phillipa Perkins, as Lulu Keck, and Terry Whitehand, as Elizabeth, seemed able to give their moments the speed and verve they required. Neil Dolheguy, as Bastien, seemed capable of moving around the stage for five minutes without progressing the action. This was very difficult to sit through and one wished that he had been encouraged to “throw away” most of his speeches, pick up cues and learn his lines.

Han van Wamel, as Count von Baltin, needed more assistance in production. He seemed glued to the spot for his first five minutes on stage and moved awkwardly after that. His voice was strong, but his accent was so heavy that his words were almost indistinguishable when he spoke quickly. It is an extraordinary fact that the action of the play is reported to take place between- 8 p.m. and 11 p.m. one particular evening. Of this three hours one assumes we were intended to see only the two which were dramatically interesting, but Mr Joyce drew this out to two hours and a half of dramatically maimed action.

The set was distracting and unattractive as were lights placed around the stage. Only the furniture, the flowers and the drapes were pleasing. Costuming was good. The play will continue at the Civic Theatre until May 26. —J.M.F.