“QUIET WEDDING”

Otago Daily Times, Issue 24413, 26 September 1940, Page 8

“QUIET WEDDING”

ANOTHER REPERTORY COMEDY DIVERTING ENTERTAINMENT The Dunedin Repertory Society continues to hitch its wagon to the comedic star, and, judged by its performance in His Majesty’s Theatre las. night of Miss Esther McCracken s “ Quiet Wedding,” it is still doing it with singular success. The play'is delightfully funny, and last nights audience, which, by the way, was an improvement on the average first-night Repertory house, cheerfully recognised it as such. “Quiet Wedding” is not what might be called a considerable play, but it does provide the peg for a few well-considered and pointed remarks on marriage from the viewpoint of the victims of the social conscience of doting parents. There was a daywhich most of the present generation are too young to remember—when French farces were the fashionable offering. They may or may not have pleased, but they made their mark, and the result is that to this day any form of human activity that entails popping in and out of doors—whether the doors give on to a bedroom or not—may still be acceptably described as lixe a French farce,” Certainly theie is & great deal of traffic in and out of doors in “Quiet Wedding.” and there is a great deal to it that the best French farces would not be too proud to ignore. There is a good deal to be said for this type of entertainment m these times, and much more for tne manner in which it was presented 13-Si night by a cast which included a substantial percentage of newcomers to the amateur stage. Miss Bessie Thomson’s production of the piece is a completely satisfactory blend of pace and colour and fluidity, and maintains the standard she has set by many previous successes. ~,.1.. The plot revolves about the frantic efforts of a typically excited family to make the best of the wedding of the youngest daughter —-champagne at lbs 6d a bottle and 100 lunches at 4s. to say nothing of the marquee and the church and morning clothes. that the bride is reduced to lowest depths of distraction and the bridegroom to the most abject bewilderment escapes the attention of everyone, particularly the flurried and anxious mother until the young couple settle the issue for themselves, ind by so doing nearly throw the entire family into a state of hysterics. Mrs Dora McPherson is engagingly effective as the mother, producing materfamilias that must surely be perfectly on the lines of Miss McCracken’s. She is superbly and divinely foolish, yet subtle with it all, and her movements, or rather flutterings, are wonderfully timed and exceedingly well judged. Miss Mary Jolly, as Janet, the bride, Mrs Katrina Speight as Aunt Mary, and Mrs Grace Douglas as Aunt Florence fill a close second place equal Miss Jolly, who might have been only pretty and pathetic was at times quite beautiful and moving. Perhaps if a mere male had conceived the part he would have made her a trifle less forceful in her reactions and a little more erratic but as her author created the part so she acted. Mrs Speight gave a distinguished performance as Aunt Mary, with more light and shade to it than has sometimes been the case with her too consistent characterisations. It was an interesting role, and extremely important to a play that will insist on skating delicately round comedy, semitragedy and sheer farce all within a few minutes, Mrs Douglas simpered with charmingly judged flamboyance as the sort of throw-back Victorian mamma, and communicated her diverting attitude of mind and speech to her movements and gestures very well. Miss Joyce Clarke was smoothly polished and assured as ■ the married sister of the bride, and Miss Jean Hasel] produced the curious character of Flower with admirable elan, giving just the right hard glitter to a personality that was. after all, only a crust.

Of the men, Mr L. J. T. Ireland did as well as anyone as the father, and achieved a considerable success by regulating the tempo of everything he said and did to the pace set by those arouhd him. If he boggled at times in the first act it" was not always his fault, ;but he always knew his right place,in the picture and stuck to it It was a well-handled study. Mr T, A. Tarrant gave one of his best performances to date, and his quiet style was very effective. Movement was . his main weakness, but he managed to cover it up very well. His was a coherent portrait with some richly illumined interludes. Mr Roland Watson presented a very creditable bridegroom in his usually more than adeouate style. The extra polish he displayed was all the result of his wider experience, from which it may be said that he has learnt much.

Miss Audrey Stevenson and Miss Billie Loan, the one as a French seamstress and the other as the family servant. were responsible for two clearcut and entertaining character studies, and Mr Bernard Sullivan in a small part contrived to give a genuine distinction. Miss Pal Fraser’s interpretation of juvenile precocity and reaction to repression was very well done. The stage management of “ Quiet Wedding.” which will be repeated nightly for the rest of the week, was in the hands of Mr Bruce Quennell