Torture for minority

Press, 6 September 1976, Page 6

Torture for minority

"Burley." by Simon Cray. Directed by Bryan Aitken for The Court Theatre, Christchurch Arts Centre. Running time: 8.1518.35. The 'first day back after vacation as many teachers are discovering afresh today, generally has to be spent stock-taking among the heaps of unmarked essays on* has been pretending to forget. This torch is so depressingly authentic that the comedy that Butley manages to extract from it simply compounds the professional inadequacy that his fellow English teachers feel on such a day, but there are three factors that sharply distinguish his position from the local norm: he can afford real 1 Scottish Scotch in his briefcase. he spends most of hisi working hours coping with, the stream of jealous homo- , aexuals that trickles through i his office, and he can actually[ go out and buv real New j Zealand lamb kidnevs. How you respond to “But-1 lev." then, will defend largelv • n whether vou are a I taemophiliac Eliot teacher or'

,a homosexual butcher’s son. I If you are a haemorrhoidic teacher’s son, you will want to -anash every item of stage furniture (which includes the genuine torture throne that crippled every academic to pass through Canterbury’s town site), but if you are a heterodox Eliot butcher, you are sure to enjoy the whole thi-w immensely. For general audiences who are not involved in such minority passions as teaching and homosexuality, “Butley” offers rich comic entertainment — not so much from the scrint (which nevertheless is Gray at his best), as from Brvan Aitken's meticulously professional direction and two excellent lead performances. Establishing a resident companv at the start of this rear has proved an excellent, oolicv, and choice of plavs has thrown emphasis on the: men. both of whom distin-l guish themselves here. In the' title part. Peter Tulloch puts! in a masterlv displav of controlled stage energy. point-j ine almost everv line perfectly to get the maximum: effect of comedy, clowing. or

tension. Also, his is an exceptionally intelligent performance with a fine control of atmosphere: after his last lines, still quoting Eliot’s Prufrock, he holds the audience in silence for what seems like five minutes. Philip Holder amazes me I more with his versatility! every role, and his per-j ■formance here, as a gayj • little mouse straight out of] I Beatrix Potter, is a brilliant I follow-up to his fine leads in! (Shakespeare and Pinter (Not) ito mention his diametrically! idifferent part in “The Removalist”). I Of the secondary parts, 'Robert Shannon is most impressive as the aforesaid but-: i cher's son, and again shows la great deal of presence: his! one mistake is in attempting dialect unnecessarily. Elizabeth Moody draws a great ideal of comedy from another 'difficult casting as a more ! senior staff member, [valiantly trying to cope with a professor who sounds like the offspring of Jean Brodie and a senile Lucky Jim. All of which makes one very grateful for the New Zealand educational system. —Howard McNaughton.