Interesting Plays

Press, Volume CX, Issue 32396, 8 September 1970, Page 14

Interesting Plays

“The Water of Lethe.” By ; Frank Sladen-Smith. Pro- 1 duced by Shirley Caddick. i St Christopher’s Drama : Group. “The Paradoxical Quest.” By Wayne Tourell. Produced by Charlotte Novis. Crescent Theatre. Crescent Theatre. Sep- i tember 5 and 7. Wayne Tourell is a promis-i ing dramatist with several! successful scripts to his credit; though there is evi-| dence in “The Paradoxical; Quest” that the writer was experimenting with tech-; niques with which he was not! yet completely at ease, the play shows an interesting de-! velopment and contains' plenty of dialogue with a genuine stamp of authenticity. The central character (played by Norman Cox) is in revolt against the stereotyped existence of his family and friends, typified by a breakfast of bacon and eggs, but his quest for social freedom reveals that basically he is as much a conformist as the rest—he cannot accept unorthodox employment—and the ultimate collapse of his “individualism” comes as no surprise. The play contains a strong element of the didactic which could embarrass producer and actors alike: but the production was greatly helped by a creditable performance by Mr Cox and Laurie Hayston who managed three roles without any obvious discomfort. Mr Hayston’s speech was especially good, with a clearlydeveloped vocal mannerism for each character. The effect of giving the main character an interior monologue amplified from offstage and read by another actor (Terry O’Regan) re suited in some difficulties ol synchronisation, and was al together too precise and well formulated. In minor roles Mavis Corbett snoke well bm tended to stand too solidlv carol Alexander had a confi dent fluidity of movement and John Rrvant showed en gaging vitality. It was recently observed ir a review that “The Water of Lethe” cannot easily sur vive a second viewing, an< one could not resist certaii premonitions before a thin

performance. There were, however, features about last evening’s performance which showed a clear improvement —the set and properties were; better arranged (though not exactly as the judge suggested at Ashburton), variations in stage level worked well, and lit was good to see John Goodflitte back in the role of Sir I Lionel: nevertheless, a number of the earlier weaknesses [ (especially the awkward I entries) remained. The idea of taking a successful production “on tour” [round suburban theatres certainly deserves encouragejment—few people can realise I how many creditable productions flourish and expire virtually unnoticed in the depths of the Christchurch suburbs. —H. D. McN.