‘Ring’ lacks pace

Press, 16 November 1981, Page 6

‘Ring’ lacks pace

“Ring Round the Moon,” by Jean Anouilh, directed by Elric Hooper for the Court Theatre. November . 14. Running time: 8 p.m. to 10.40 p.m. Reviewed by Gerrit Bahlman.

Anouilh’s “Ring Round the Moon” is a production flawed by its length. It lacks pace, and to a large extent the comedy and wit to maintain audience interest. For a gala production — the end of the Court’s tenth anniversary celebration and the opening of its new and much improved auditorium — it lacked the punch of a typical Court production. Performances by the Court’s actors are always impressive, but the brisk, snappy energy that delights was in evidence too seldom to overcome the limitations of the script. Anouilh is a playwright who requires cutting. Opportunities may not abound for the effective cut. especially

when confronted with the zany performance of a Wickham Pack, but surely for the sake of pace the secondary plot line could have been modified.

The play is concerned with the fortunes of a Cinderella character, Isabelle, whose presence at the “ball” is arranged to expose the fickle affair of a twin brother and a spoilt lady of financial note. The idential twins are Frederic and Hugo, both played with skill by Stuart Devenie. Devenie is capable of great comic expressiveness, simply by the fluent restraint of emotion. The contrast between the black, amoral Hugo and the shy, sad-sack Frederic was completely believable. The young spoilt lady, Diana Messerschmanri,. was played by Deborah Davids, engaged to Frederic, secretly in love with Hugo. Diana’s father, John Curry, is filthy rich and unhappy.

His private secretary, ‘Patrice Bombelles, has been the secret lover of his mistress for two years and even this fails to upset him further. Martyn Duffy as Patrice is carefully .controlled and full of hilarious terror. The fairy godmother of the piece is played by Beryl Te Wiata. Her performance of Madame Desmermortes, while entirely competent, failed to achieve the potential of the role because of

misdirected sight lines. The strength of the' eye-to-eye relationship was often lost. Yvonne Martin as Isabelle’s mother was delightful. Her bird-like fluttering and parroting of the social graces was refreshing. Isabelle, played by Melissa Miles, was a difficult role with little opportunity for the development of a convincing portrayal. The play had several enjoyable cameo roles but by far the strongest was that of Geoffrey Heath’s Joshua. The crumbling butler’s decrepit attempts to deal with the calamities . witnessed were cherished moments. Ope outstanding feature of the production was the costuming designed by Peter Lees-Jeffries. The set employed a subtle three-dimen-sional spring blossom array, mounted alongside a gazebo. The allusion to Anouilh’s rose-coloured pieces was not lost. The one fault of the set was its restriction of the waltzing entrances. The intended flashes of ballroom splendour became clumsy and cramped. The role of David Farquahar’s music rwas too subordinate to . highlight the ballroom atmosphere. ■