Refreshing Change In Local Entertainment

Te Puke Times, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 12, 15 February 1949, Page 2

Refreshing Change In Local Entertainment

“THE BLUE GOOSE” WELL PRESENTED

TAURANGA REPERTORY COMPANY' ASSISTS RED CROSS FUNDS

(hi Thursday lasi in the Pari.-h llali, the Taursmjßi Repertory Company 'presented 1o an almost capaciiy audience a reading' oT Peter Blackmore’s three-act comedy The Blue (loose. As a result The Red Cross Society will benefit fairly substantially. The entire action of this wellwritten and del ia'htfully witty satire takes place in the Lounge of the Burials' home on the South Coast of Kn”land.

The plot centres round the .activities of the empty-headed and snobbish social climber, Mrs Porta! (quite creditably portrayed by Peggy Holland) who fondly, imagines that she 'is a highcUss operatic soprano. Her desire to be in the limelight, particularly as the leading lady in the local Amateur Operatic Society, is a source of constant irritation, to her earnest and high minded daughter, Louise.

Denise Suttor’s portrayal of Louise, who finally makes the break (from a life of stifling conveutiality and filial duty to an over-possessive-mother) to elope with the charmingly unconventional Richard Hardy, owner of the yacht Blue Goose, was perhaps the most convincing of the evening. :

Frank Waldegrave, as Richard Hardy, also contributed a first-rate performance: ('Specially in the humorous situations.

As the reluctant suitor of the domineering and socially ambitious Anna (creditably played by Catherine Arscott), Keith Gifford was especially weir cast. His screamingly funny portrayal of the hen-pecked little Hubert Briggs, Mayor of the Town and also local Undertaker, contributed very largely to the success of the evening. Dorothy Hewlett brought down the house with her delightfully humorous interpretation of the eccentric Mrs Keppel-PiggOt whilst, as the absentminded and easy-going Henry Portal, Laurie Friis gave a studied performance. Others in the cast were John Crawford as Mr Guppy, a lifeboat captain: Keith: Braccy as Charlie Rodgers, a junior clerk; and Betty Dashwood as Margaret, the Portals’ maid; all of whom showed evidence of histrionic ability. The stage was attractively set and the costuming excellent; and, despite the cramped space and the lack of theatrical facilities, the ingenuity of the artists enabled the action of flic play to proceed quite smoothly. The necessity, however, for the artists to refer frequently to the 'Script tended to detract from a performance which, though represented as a Play Reading, was otherwise presented upon the lines of a full-action play.

The presentation came as a refreshing change to a town starved of this type of entertainment.