Difficult Play Well Presented

Press, Volume CX, Issue 32359, 27 July 1970, Page 12

Difficult Play Well Presented

N.Z. Theatre Federation Festival: Final Night Return to a City. By James Saunders: Pegasus Players. Produced by Alison Alston. The V.I. Pom. By Eve Hughes. Little Unity Theatre. Produced by Wylie Evans. Barnstable. By James Saunders. Mayfield Drama Club. Produced by Jane Coughlan.

An excellent presentation of a formidably difficult play was an unexpected highlight on the last night of the area festival, and considerably increased one’s respect for both the Pegasus Players and playwright. James Saunders. One might justifiably have doubted whether such a production could have come from Pegasus Players—their other two offerings at the festival gave absolutely no hint that the Sumner group was capable of this kind of work.

“Return to a City” is technically a very modern play, and makes no concessions to its actors—it is impossible for them to hide behind the slickness of their lines or the fascinating little developments of suspense. It opens with a long solo performance by Ngaire Tonkin: this kind of isolated acting situation recurs a number of times, and it was mainly the ex- : pertise with which the cast handled this- sort of episode that made the play such a smooth-running success. There were many good things about the Pegasus production, and they were, recognised by the judge: her comments at the end of the performance were in a consistently eulogistic yein. Conse-

quently, it came as an unexpected disappointment to those who shared her appreciation to find that the play, a monumental achievement for the group, received no mention in the trophy list afterwards. The Pegasus Players deserve credit for their masterful handling of the play’s many difficulties, difficulties which go far beyond the other two Saunders plays in the festival. “Barnstable,” for instance, provides the continuous support of a neverfailing line of parody which allows the actors to stay outside their characters. The subtleties of character which are essential in “Return To A City” are virtually nonexistent in “Barnstable,” and this makes for considerably easier acting. The revival of Eve Hughes’s play was in several respects superior to the premiere two years ago, and the impressive handling of the dialogue increased one's awareness of the playwright’s achievement. The Little Unity grouping was mostly very good, and in the title-role Peter 800 l created a character who made very good sense of the play, emphasising the latent potential of a con-man. The production won the group three trophies.

The two main awards went to the Elmwood Players, “Night School” and the St Christopher’s Group’s “Waters Of Lethe.” Though all the trophies went to deserving productions, the small number of entries in the festival eliminated some of the surprise from the judging, and thus unfortunately devalued the significance of some of the awards, —H. D. McN.