“IT’S A WISE CHILD”

Dominion, Volume 33, Issue 84, 3 January 1940, Page 12

“IT’S A WISE CHILD”

Modern American Comedy LAUGHTER AT OPERA HOUSE •‘lt's a Wise Chilli,” a comedy in three acts by Larry E. Johns,.ii. Cast of characters :— Alice Peabody Lydia Hastings Mrs Stanton Kiltie Lowers 'pertlm I >oris Packer ■ p,iii siai'i"n i |o "M”‘! I Huger Baldwin Dt-wiir Met onn.i-k .lini Sl.■vens tthol Fleming (Him Pealmilv ('lit’l'nrd Cowley t; \ vimlobv Harvey Adams Cool ' Kelly ..' ■ Mee I’riltt Joyti* Siautoß - lane < oncllj ••It's a Wise Child." which the J. C. Williamson. Ltd., cnniptiiiy. now playing at the Opera House, performed lor the first time last night. is a comedy immeasurably belter suited to the taste of Wellington audiences llmu that with which the company opened ijs \\ elliugtou season. If >s a rattling comedy, with the kind of dialogue that is rapidly ceasing to be regarded as risque, and last: night's audience again and again rocked with laughter. I There are two main threads to Hie plot, one about a woman who is ‘’about to become a mother” ami the other about a woman who pretends to be in the same condition, to rid berseJl 01. an unwanted betrothed. Most of the characters are members of the Stanton family, residents of an American suburban town. When the curtain rises- their maid, Annie, lias been dismissed because slip is "in trouble." and the family are discussing the good match a daughter, Joyce, is to make by marrying the elderly financial magnate ol: the town, There is a to-do about getting Annie married to the man responsible, whom Annie refuses to name, and Joyce conceives the bright idea of pretending that she is about to have a ■baby to a man she refuses to name. One gathers that she has become engaged to Mr. G. A. Appleby only in response to his financial kindness to the family. The effect of her declaration is electric. The old suitor, who lias been blustering that nothing would make him release the girl from her promise, begins to want her to sign a document denying that he is her expected child’s father, and her married sister hotly accuses her inoffensive husband of being the father. During the hubbub the dear reliable not-yet-so-old family lawyer nobly announces that he is ■the man, which nobody believes. Each man under suspicion is told that the idea that he is “the man” is ridiculous and he takes offence. All the tune a drama is going on off stage in Annie's life. The audience never sees Annie, but does see the ice man whom the family believes is •her lover. Actually the father of Annie’s baby is their own Bill Stanton. The quarrelling sister and her husband, who is the inefficient manager of the churn factory that supplies the family income, add to the turmoil. A,further complication is the spiteful attempt of G. A. Applebv to do all he can to embarrass the family financially. For the enjoyment of future patrons the conclusions of both affairs are better left untold. .1 he locale of the play is American, but the audience loses nothing when the players drop attempts to maintain the American atmosphere. . The role of Joyce Stanton is taken by Miss Jane Conelly, whose talent was given no scope in “I Killed the Count. A charming personality, she drew an artistically subtle picture of the young woman, bright, mischievous, maddeningly flippant, but whose lieart beats warmly for the man she loves. Much of the success of the play is due to the comfortable stage presence of Mr. Athol Fleming. Fie is continuously before the footlights in the role of the lawyer and is at home in all situations. Mr. Clifford Cowley is well suited to the role of the nervous factory manager. Mr. Alec Pratt, the politician of “I Killed the Count,” is so full of implied menaces as the bullying ice man that the audience gets a shrinking feeling. Mr. Harvey‘Adams clearly pictures Joyce’s unattractive fiancee; Mr. John Howard is equally at home as Bill Stanton. Sliss Doris Packer shows again her ability as a character actress in_ the part of Annie’s successor, and Miss Katie Towers’s elderly personality fits into the part of Mrs. Stanton. Special mention must be made of two members of the cast who have joined the company in Wellington, Miss Lynda Hastings and Mr. Dewar McCormack. Miss Hastings’s role of Alice Peabody, the' sister married to the factory manager, requires the display of a considerable range of emotion, including' storming anger with rapid lines. All thfe difficulties of the part she .surmounted with apparent case. Mr. McCormack produced all that was demanded of him as the good young man who attracts Joyce’s eye for three days, but who loses her when she realizes he is more concerned with his job than with her. “It’s a Wise Child” is a comedy that deserves large audiences at its presentations throughout the week.