POLLY’S PAST

Sun (Auckland), Volume 1, Issue 109, 29 July 1927, Page 15

POLLY’S PAST

AMUSING SITUATIONS RENEE KELLY’S DEBUT Polly with a Past," a comedy in three acts, by Guy Bolton and George Middleton, produced at His Majesty’s Theatre last evening by J. C. Williamson, Ltd. CAST Clay Collum p irie Bush Harry Richardson Jack Dunne Polly Shannon Renee Kelly Yf n . Zlle Ronald Ward ®Vi E>^yis ■ Emma Temple Myrtle Davis Phyllis Best Jackson Wilcox S" kc , r 7 Peggy Willoughby Mrs. Van Zile Margaret Darner Commodore Barker—Reginald Wykeham Prentice Van Zile . . .. Hylton Allen A Stranger Leslie Victor Give a woman a past and she becomes the centre of a buzzing crowd. If the women don’t like her, the men will. Make that past so lurid that Cleopatra would have been a blushing schoolgirl and the women will hate her but the men will be injured in the stampede.

“Polly With a Past” is very slender iomedy, demanding- capable players ° carry it to success. It is ingeniously built up by a series of situations which become extremely amusing in the third act. One felt that Guy Bolton, author of many musical comedy books, had originally intended it to be set to music, but that on second thoughts he

called in George Middleton, and

between them they turned it into straight comedy. Polly never had a past. It was wholly fictitious, but while it lasted how the women hated her and how the men fell. Two young men conceived the idea of turning Polly, their cook-house-maid-general into a French adventuress in order to smooth out the love affairs of their friend. Polly, with thoughts of a musical career, was the daughter of a parson. with hopes of taking singing lessons in Paris. She had progressed as far as a servant in a New York flat, when the idea was conceived that she should become an adventuress. Her arrival in the Van Zile home was sensational and spectacular. A French accent, wonderful clothes, no deputation and the information that men had died in dozens for her set the place agog. But Polly’s adventure ended successfully. Instead of assisting with a young man’s love affair the young man fell in love with her. The final curtain left nothing to be desired by those who are fond of happy endings. Polly’s past, after a series of ludicrous situations, looked like developing into a fairy-tale after. Miss Kelly took full advantage of every opportunity the comedy offered. She has the light touch so necessary for such a slender piece and a wistfulness which was appealing when serious moments were demanded. Her interpretation of the masquerading

Frenchwoman was an excellent piece of work. It was easy to guess why Miss Kelly had made such a success

of “Baddy Longlegs’’ during the war. Mr. Ward was almost too young at times. His performance was that of an extremely nice young man in whom any woman would have been proud to take an interest. It was not until the third act that Mr. Ward showed what he could really do. A good sense of comedy is one of Mr. Dunne’s biggest assets. He handles his situations with ease and does not require a hammer to extract the humour from his lines. Mr. Wykeham is a sound, capable actor, a trifle hearty, perhaps; but his performances are always refreshing. Though playing only a small part, Mr. Allen is well-versed in stagecraft. Perhaps, before the seasons ends, he will show us what he can do in a bigger role. Mr. Bush has improved since he was last in New Zealand. His work is now more mature. He gave a sound performance last evening and displayed a good comedy sense. Miss Temple can always be relied on for a good performance, no matter how small. Miss Best made the most of an uncongenial role, that of the soul-saving young woman. Miss Darner, Mr. Wilcox and Mr. Victor capably filled the smaller roles.