QUIET WEDDING -REPERTORY SOCIETY'S NEXT

Evening Star, Issue 23681, 14 September 1940, Page 5

QUIET WEDDING -REPERTORY SOCIETY'S NEXT

In selecting ‘ Quiet Wedding,’ by Esther M'Cracken, for production this month, the Repertory Society may be said to be following up the flair for bright, sparkling comedy which its producer, Miss Bessie Thomson, so ably

demonstrated in ‘ When We Are Married.’ Both plays are of the type which pleases a much wider public than repertory members. They are alike in an abundance of witty dialogue, humorous situations, and in the fact that the themes are concerned with problems of marriage. Here, however, the likeness ends. ‘ Quiet Wedding ’ is modern and sophisticated, carrying an undercurrent of contentious comment on the moral behaviour of the young people of to-day, as well as a smart, scintillating element of comedy. Briefly, the situation in which the characters find themselves is this: The bride- wants, a quiet wedding,, and mother does it “ very quietly,” with a couple of hundred guests, marquees on the lawn, and, as dad remarks, “ champagne at 16s 6d a bottle.” The distracted mother is far too busy with the preparations to notice that she is almost wrecking her daughter’s happiness. Then things start to happen! Esther M'Cracken makes the most of this delightful situation, exploiting to the full both the whimsical thoughtlessness of the grown-ups and the tender pathos of the lovers. ‘ Her solution of the double-sided problem k ingenious, although it will probably cause the audience to split into opposite camps. Such a plot calls for more than usual ability both from the actors and from the producer. This has been recognised in the selection of a powerful cast,

which will include Miss Mary Jolly and Mr Roland Watson as the lovers, Mrs Dora M'Pherson as the mother, and Mrs Katrena Speight as the understanding “ Aunt Mary.” The cast will also include Mesdames Grace Douglas, Audrey Stevenson, Jean Hasell, Misses Pat Fraser, Billie Loan, Joyce Clarke, Messrs L. J. Ireland, T. Tarrant, Bernard Sullivan, and Dr E. W. Nansen. Rehearsals are already well in progress, and, judging by present results, the society bids fair to outdo its previous success.

Staging of ‘ Quiet Wedding ’ will allow the society’s able stage manager, Mr Bruce Queunell, to “ spread himself.” The main scene calls for ‘ Morning Room, Eve of Wedding,’ while we understand that Mr Queunell plans to set the more serious scene “ in curtains,” a practice which is becoming increasingly poprilar, as its very simplicity lays double emphasis on the action.