'Fish' a spicy morsel for some palates

Press, 23 June 1978, Page 18

'Fish' a spicy morsel for some palates

By

HOWARD McNAUGHTON

“Dusa, Fish, Stas, and Vi,” by Pam Gems. Directed by Elody Rathgen for the University of Canterbury j Drama Society; Ngaio ' Marsh Theatre. Runs until July 1, Running: time: 8.15 p.m. to 10.10 p.m. Before this piay, originally] called “Dead Fish,” had its! j premiere in London 18| ’ months ago, Gems was i I already the author of about j ja dozen plays and was! i ranked with Arden, Churchill. I Brenton, Wymark, and others I j at the forefront of contemIporarv British drama. I Without the astutely! chosen programme note from] ! Virginia Woolf, however, this! piece could easily come' across as just a naturalistic; : I view of four girls in the samep kat enmeshed in problems of i ! child-rearing, drugs, jealous-” les, prostitution, yoga, and] 1 the like: its dialogue is en-! livened by some charming]' expletives, its action isr often refreshingly inconse- j quential, and its structure ' has a fashionable vagueness about the chronology of its j 14 short episodes. But Gem’s j dramaturgy creaks in places > (especially the ending) and 1 some elements seem very ] close to Ann Jellicoe’s

1 “Knack” and other- plays | from the early 60s. Rathgen, however, has i sensed the finer points about [this script, which, whatever ]its weaknesses, is a much ! better piece of play-writing than Mercer’s “Flint” with: 'which the students started: J their dramatic year. The: more fragile aspects of this! Iplay, especially the scene end-i ings, are cushioned in a deli-j cately conceived lighting: :plot and the rehearsal has {obviously been thorough] : enough to develop the actors’ { | confidence sufficiently to hold I their more subdued gestures {before an audience which ] cannot express its involveiment: a difficult feat for young actors. : It is in the acting that this play has greatest impact. As: I Vi, Marvrose Wilkinson does! | a pleasantly evocative intro-1 ] ductory yoga scene before i i settling into the role of the I {flippant light comic, which j she does well with an impressive range of acting versatility. { Fiona Samuel is highly { : effective in the most poig-;. Inant role of Dusa, in which{ she manages to protract a; lugubrious world-weariness j. with creditable conviction. Robyn Nicholas is a ' refreshing contrast as the relatively coarse and pragmatic hospital assistant who is working as a prostitute to • get to the University of Hawaii. ■ Sue Curnow has to carryii

s the weight of the play’s more : overt feminist implications as s 1 well as the weak resolution t: which encourages staginess. *{An approach on a lower key; 11 would be possible but gener- ; ally she welds the flat i together efficiently. I This is not a play for all audiences: its feminist propensity does not obtrude but i the weighting presupposes j audience sympathy and a ‘close reading of the Virginia! Woolf extract is well worth {while. However, it is very much the sort of play that a student group should be doing and, within its obvious constrictions, it is a highly creditable production for all involved. —