Polished Performances In Schools’ Play

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31088, 17 June 1966, Page 10

Polished Performances In Schools’ Play

It was a delight to hear, last night the lines of Oscar Wilde’s “The Importance of Being Earnest,” delivered with such intelligent sensitivity to the playwright’s super-sophisticated wit A combined cast from St. Margaret’s College and Christ’s College opened a three-night season with a performance which was assured and polished. In plays of this kind, style and not sincerity is the thing. The style of high comedy demands elegance, dignity and detachment—qualities which do not always come naturally to students. The characters must always take themselves and their ultra-refined sophistry absolutely seriously: the more seriously they take themselves, the more the audience can laugh at their over-civilised attitudes. The whole cast, and their producer, Mr N. H. Creese, obviously understood this perfectly. The production was not as lively with movement and business as most adult productions, and some scenes became rather static: but in a IT’

play in which words are so important, this is not a serious weakness. Characterisation were firstclass. From the impeccable aloofness of the menservants (M. Garland and T. Norman) to the imperious sweep of Lady Bracknell’s voice and bustle (Christine Perry), everyone had studied their role down to the smallest inflexion, the smallest gesture.

N. Broderick and H. de Lautour contrasted amusingly as Jack and Algie; the girls (Charlotte Holmes and Catherine Wilkin) looked charming whether they were being cattish or kittenish; and the learning and yearning of Prism and Chasuble were colourfully created by J. Denniston and Yvonne Mac Kay. The settings and costumes showed a nice attention to period detail without ever being over-elaborate or pretentious. It is always an achievement to make the dialogue and action of a familiar play seem fresh and entertaining in doing just this, all concerned in the production amply justified the time they must have spent in its preparation. -P.R.S.