“FAMILY AFFAIRS”

Dominion, Volume 30, Issue 266, 6 August 1937, Page 12

“FAMILY AFFAIRS”

Another Thespian Success “Family Affairs,” the latest production by the Thespians, gave pleasure to last night's audience at the Wellington Town Hall concert chamber because of its diverting comedy and its accurate transcription of English family life. A competent cast did full justice to the authoress, Gertrude Jennings, and the performance maintained a uniformly high standard throughout the three acts. Miss M. Hardinge-Maltby gave a clever delineation of Lady Madehurst, the central character in the play, a Victorian mother and grandmother who exercised a benevolent sway over a large household. Her portrayal lost nothing by its restraint, and she accepted with becoming dignity the deference of her family circle. As Aunt Amy, eager to help but powerless to do so, Miss Coralie Smythson was appealing by her very futility. It was a splendid performance. The troubles of her three sons, Harvey (Peter Palmer), Sydney (Maurice St. A. Ilawken) and Herbert (Frederick W. Lovatt), cause a series of crises which impose on the household a nervous strain that has been admirably captured by the company, and with the romances and peccadilloes of other members of the family whimsically portrayed, there is ample scope for comedy. Miss Joan Stevens, Miss Janet Stirling, Miss Agnes Elliott, Miss Lola Kelly, Miss Olive Dixon, and Miss Susie Painter, were effective in their parts, and the play owed much to its producer, Mrs. Elsie Lloyd. "Family Affairs” is to be repeated tonight and to-morrow night.