NEW STAGE-PLAY GROUP

Hutt News, Volume 20, Issue 21, 23 October 1946, Page 6

NEW STAGE-PLAY GROUP

THREE NOEL COWARD PLAYS An event of considerable interest in theatrical circles is the advent of a new organisation known as the Stage-Play Theatre Group, whose initial production at the Waterloo School Assembly Hall is advertised in this issue. Taken from Noe! Coward’s “To-night at Eight-Thirty,” the programme comprises three 0110act plays, each of which is rich in sparkling dialogue and continuous action. “Family Album” goes hack to the Victorian era of red plush and respectability. Just what a little drop of Madiera—and a little drop more—can do to a band of staid Victorian mourners in their gilt parlour will probably startle even twentieth century sophisticates. “Hands Across the Sea” is one of the most delightful examples of oross-purposes ever perpetrated. Comical situations pile one upon the other until the edifice of pretence crashes with a resounding roar (from the audience). A third-rate act in a third-rate vaudeville show—with this recipe Coward makes a first-rate comedy, one which has convulsed audiences everywhere. “The Red Peppers” leaves the audience limp at the end o!' their turn, which for them goes from front stage to dressing room and back again. Although the Stage-Play Theatre Group is making its bow to the Hu,ft people, many of its members are well known in Repertory and radio play circles, and the large audiences which are expected at Waterloo on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday of next week may be assured of a highly enjoyable evening.