Elmwood plays

Press, 25 July 1985, Page 4

Elmwood plays

Three one-act plays at the Elmwood Playhouse, from July 24 to 28. Running time: 8 p.m. to 10.10 p.m. Reviewed by John Farnsworth. Tears and ear-splitting screams almost seemed to be a recurrent feature in these Elmwood one-act plays. That is perhaps surprising since two out of three are actually comedies. The two comedies are the work of the local playwright, Barry Southam. They were preceded by an American drama, “Tennessee,” by the little-known Romulus Linney. “Tennessee” suffered most from a problem which faced all the productions — staging. Set in the heart of cornpone country with accents more or less to suit, it tells the serious but somewhat implausible tale of a sassy young woman who is duped by her tight rural community as.. a way of pacifying and excluding her. Pitted largely through

flashbacks, this deceptively difficult play seems uncomfortably confined on the tiny Elmwood stage. The problem is exacerbated by a semi-formalist presentation, and an occasional lurch into histrionics which undermines its reflective tone. Barry Southam’s “California Grease Paint” explores the theme of hypocrisy in a short, often amusing story about a small, socially committed touring theatre company casting for two vacancies. The applicants, however, turn out to be a rather mixed bunch, from which much of the comedy flows. As it turns out, both the script and cast are similar in appearing lively but uneven, and a question of regional accents badly needs sorting out. Jennie Goodman makes almost too much of the neurotic Stephine, Joanna Hartnell is a credible Kiwi, while David Shine and Julie Armstrong are best as the

long-suffering company partners. The best, however, isjeft until last in Barry Southam’s “Escape,” which benefits from a good script, confident performances, and clean direction by Carolyn Davies. Simply enough, the plot turns on the unexpected arrival of Eric, the inept burglar, at the offices of a psycho analyst. Although there is a renewed problem with staging — principally, a large window which has to be mimed — this barely detracts from a nicely comic performance by the whole cast — John Howden, Russell Holmes, Angela Simpson and Trisa Purcell — and especially by Howden as the frustrated psycho-analyst. Generally, this is a mixed evening in terms of both script and production and one which is underlined to some extent by the success and lightgess of touch of the final performance.