MR SUTTON VANE'S MORALITY

Evening Star, Issue 22445, 16 September 1936, Page 1

MR SUTTON VANE'S MORALITY

[By C. R. Allex.]

• OUTWARD BOUND • FOR THE LITTLE THEATRE

Mr Sutton Vane’s ‘ Outward Bound,’" which, was originally produced at the Everyman Theatre, Hampstead, may be said to have had a suitable locale for its premiere, for, like the old morality from the Dutch, it is an. allegory of life and death. A number of persons find themselves on board what appears to be an ocean liner. There is something odd about this col* lection of people. For one thing, they have no luggage, though it would appear that the ship is hound for a long voyage. As the play proceeds the audience comes to the realisation of the fact that the passengers are in' the same case as those who hail. the ferryman, Charon, for the passage of the Styx. _ The play presents a series of intensive psychological studies, and proffers ample opportunity for dramatic talent. The passengers are subjected to a scrutiny which may not appear to differ greatly from that which awaits actual passengers either at the outset or the close of a journey. In this instance, however, the examiner, to be played in. the forthcoming production at the Little Theatre by Mr Sullivan, is not concerned with mundane passports. He resembles rather the traditional St. Peter. The cast is a fairly numerous one. There is space to mention but a few of the principals. Messrs Marks, Fish, Whittar, and Clementson will represent four of the passengers, one a clergyman, another a self-made business man, and so on. Mrs Aubrey Stephens is to represent a woman of the world who finds herself outward bound with the rest of the strange company. Parts are also to bo sustained by Mr H. H. Westwood and Misses Isobel and Alice Clarke. Sutton Vane had a play entitled ‘ The Trembling of a Leaf ’ produced in London in succession to ‘ Outward Bound,* which latter was transferred from Hampstead to the West End for a successful run. The play has since been revived. Produced originally at one of the first repertory theatres in London, the old Hampstead Drill Hall converted into a theatre through the - enterprise of Mr M'Dermott, it is just the type of play to appeal to the kind of audience the Little Theatre in Dunedin is cultivating—namely, the audience in search of ideas.