‘Miss Jean Brodie’

Press, Volume CXI, Issue 32587, 22 April 1971, Page 14

‘Miss Jean Brodie’

“The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie.” By Jay Presson Allen, from the novel by Muriel Spark. Directed by Yvette Bromley. The Court Provincial Chambers. April 21 to May 16. Running time: 2hr 40min.

Jean Brodie is a megalomaniac with a truly heroic contempt for traditional sanctimonies: her career is of the cumulative kind that must sooner or later be punctured. She is not, however, without a carefullywrought scheme for her private apotheosis, and systematically contrives her own immortalisation for when her illusory “prime” collapses. Of course, the story is by now well known, but its significance here lies in the colossal demands this kind of development makes on both the principal and the direc-

tion. Annette Facer is clearly able to excel in the title role, and, apart from a couple of lapses on the first night, gave a well-controlled performance with enough amplitude. The outstanding individual scenes, however, were effected by the “Brodie Set” of pupils: Maureen Thompson and Vivienne Riddle, both gave excellent performances, and were well supported by Marie Tracey and Vivien Daley. Their group work was well directed and competently done: their characters were intelligently conceived, and their group interaction was always good. Miss Riddle managed her difficult psychological ambivalence in the closing scenes perfectly, and her performance as the group leader earlier contained plenty of energy—energy that one felt some other scenes lacked. In other roles, vocal projection needs regulation: William Hayward and Nqeleen Le Fevre gave good performances of the interview that frames the whole thing, but seemed only on the verge of giving the whole play a really pervasive atmosphere. This, of course, should be easily rectified. William Stevens has a difficult casting to deal with, and Bill Evans took a while to gain stability on the first night; Cynthia Ward handies the more straightforward role of the hockey-brained headmistress comfortably. The really significant weakness on the first night was one of continuity. This is a long play in which everything depends on sustaining the atmosphere: the virtues of the Provincial Chambers do not include much space, and more thought needs to go into efficiency of property management. This done (and it surely poses no insuperable problem), the play will provide enjoyable entertainment for a general audience —as well as a cautionary tale for ambitious schoolteachers. —H. D. McN.