NOEL COWARD PLAY

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 393, 29 June 1928, Page 12

NOEL COWARD PLAY

DIOCESAN OLD GIRLS’ PRODUCTION A bright play from the brightest of modern playwrights, Noel Coward, was staged admirably by the Diocesan High School Old Girls’ League last evening in St. Mark’s Hall, in aid of the school grounds improvement fund. Coward’s “I’ll Leave it to You” is not an easy piece to produce, and the success of the play last night reflects credit on Mr. Clark as well as on the 10 members of the cast. The dialogue scintillates with the smartness and witticism of Coward at his best, as the play establishes an original plot. The head of a family of three girls and two boys dies, lea.ving them almost in poverty, and they are inclined to remain inactive in despair, until a South American uncle offers to leave his fortune to the one who has achieved the most success in three years. The offer rouses them, and in 18 months they are self-supporting; but here the plot takes a twist, leaving the prophet of results sadly out in his reckoning. Three main roles are exceptionally well handled —Miss C. M.artin as the mother, Mr. Mackle as the unclQ, and Miss Audrey Bayly as Mrs. Crombie. The three daughters, taken by Misses Jean McCormick, Frances Forte and Joan Hudson, are natural interpretations, and Messrs* G. Brown Douglas and Godfrey Kissling are able actors as the sons. Miss Doris Cleland and Miss K. Buchanan fill smaller roles. “I’ll Leave it to You” will be presented again this evening.