Excellent Acting In Linwood High Play

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31083, 11 June 1966, Page 18

Excellent Acting In Linwood High Play

Linwood High School’s production of “The Admirable Crichton”, which opened last night, was remarkable for the full appreciation of the style of the play. This was obvious in the acting of the whole cast, and reflected the excellent work done by the producer, Mr D. McAra, in ensuring that his cast understood exactly what the play was about. It would be difficult to imagine a more controlled, aloof, yet dominant personality than Reid Basher’s playing of Crichton, the butler who understood when he must be leader, and when he must be servant. Leonie Calvert was equally convincing as Lady Mary. Her superiority, her intelligent vitality, her adaptability, were all splendidly displayed. David Johnson gave a delightfully relaxed playing of the rather ridiculous, rather pathetic, Lord Loam. If the other members of the cast

were not always so assured, they all showed that they

knew precisely what sort of

person they were meant to be, and said their lines meaningfully. A feature of the production was the way everyone kept in character —movements and reactions were always welltuned to the spirit of J. M. Barrie’s lines. Although the sets were ef-. fective and showed considerable ingenuity, the modern conventions used clashed a little with the sense of period created by the characters. Some of the costumes were rather too contemporary. It was a pleasure to hear Barrie’s quiet humour and witty analysis of the class structure so clearly presented, and the warm response from the audience must have been ample reward for the thorough preparation which had obviously gone into all aspects of this production. The play will be presented again tonight and on Monday in the school assembly hall. —P.R.S.