Quality play begins new local series

Press, 9 August 1976, Page 13

Quality play begins new local series

By

KEVIN McMENAMIN

It is a happy comment tary on the growing maturity of New Zealand, television that the pick

of the programmes onj’ both Friday and Satur-L day nights were home-;, made productions. i Most interest focused on i, TV2’s new Friday series, , “Thirty Minute Theatre” and,, while this title, apt as mayj, be has a familiar ring to it ! the first play scored very!, highly on originality. The series is obviously), intended to be an outlet fori) New Zealand writers and the), first up, Dean Parker, set ai, pace that will not be easy fori] those coming after him to I] match. !, His “The Touch Of Class”;] was a clever and imaginative;! piece of satirical writing and i one that was deftly given a New Zealand flavour. The; Kiwi trappings did not over-ii run or distort the story, as': is so often the case. ;i Impractical as it might h seem, there was something oddly appealing about the;] idea of an owner of a firm!: being so tied to the shop; floor that he not only sup-f ported a move for betterj, conditions, but actually took': up the cudgels on the workers’!

.ibehalf with the management.' . His subsequent hat-changing i Hwas a nice comic touch, all mood that was developed' 'when the workers got their!

i way. So in plot and plot development the play was a winner. And its success was made complete by a cast who seemed right at home ■in their roles. However, two i stood out. They were Alan >de Malmanche as the exas-l iperated factory manager and iTerry Cooper as the most yocal of the workers. De Malmanche managed isome wonderful facial gymmastics as he decried stirrers 'and an ungrateful working I class, and Cooper’s fiery; ilrish oratory might have been music even to capitalist I ears. He rounded out “proTetariat” so beautifully that 'membership could well be deemed an honour. The other two local programmes deserving a large audience were the discussion shows run by Gordon Dryden and Brian Edwards. Dryden’s look at gambling suffered a little because of a Hop-sided audience (only one i strong opponent of gambling in any form) and more time I could possibly have been (devoted to the social conisequences of gambling. I Nevertheless, it was a

'fruitful discussion and, boiled! down, reached the unsurpris-; ling conclusion that gambling 'in moderation is not harm-! iful.

Edwards dived into far (deeper water with another! 'assault on the abortion issue. IThere was a hint that the discussion was not meant to |stray behind the need for places like the Auckland Mediical Aid Centre, but inevitably I the morality of abortion beIcame the issue. I Although the arguments were familiar, the topic is one of such importance that it requires the fullest public debate. And if towards the lend a little heat was shed, lit was not entirely devoid of Hight. In fact, it was in the main a very level-headed discussion of an emotionallycharged subject. Edwards was obviously aware of the dangers, although in his fade-out he might have been better not to have described the absence of any hysterics or punch-ups as an achievement. Perhaps he was simply ad-libbing long ■ enough for the males to I sprint for safety.

! There were a few finals at the week-end and. giving I the good news first, one of them was thankfully “Planet of the Apes.” Missed far more will be “Sadie, it’s Cold Outside.” which after an indifferent start warmed up to become an uncommonly good domestic comedy and one with some application to real life. Lonely housewives, or; those who rank below the j newspaper and the television in their husbands’ affections, I would, no doubt, appreciate I Sadie's problems. It was a< series that was good . for I; more than a laugh. It was also time again to say farewell to “Dave Allen at Large,” but Allen hardly went out in typical style. He looked to be clearing out his joke drawer and most of them were, by his standards, very ordinary, even dull. The skits, too, looked like left-overs. But, doubtless. Allen will redeem himself when he is next let loose and one wonders what sort of punchline he could give to a story about a sweet young (female, of course) television announcer who on air thanks by name some man for “keeping her seat warm for the last few nights.” . Viewers who caught the line on Friday night might well have wondered just how television people spend their free evenings.