Play entry gamble may pay off

Taupo Times, Volume 23, Issue 53, 4 July 1974, Page 7

Play entry gamble may pay off

The Taupo Dramatic Society stands a better than even chance this year in the one-act play competition with its entry "Black Comedy." I The ingredients for success in any amateur produced play are pace, simplicity and fun. "Black Comedy" has these, and the players have shown themselves able to I convincingly project their parts. The play involves a penniless sculptor, his debutante girl friend, her ex-colonel father, a winsome mistress, a spinster, a I slightly camp antique dealer, a philosophising I electrician and a deaf millionaire. Matters become humorously confused when a I pOwer failure plunges the sculptor's flat into darkness. I So that the audience may see — and understand — what is taking place, the elements are reversed. The play opens in dim light. When the power is cut in the flat, the stage lights up. This means that almost throughout the show's 61 minutes, the players have to feign their groping in the dark. A dress rehearsal earlier this week showed they had managed this feat. In fact, some of the stumbling into furniture — and falling down stairs in particular — was carried off with verve and scant regard for personal safety.

For a one-act, the play is long — but does not suffer for this. Its cast of eight is large — but each character is an individual, - and this helps, too. Within the strict limitations governing erection and dismantling, the set has been well thought out. The producer, Joanna Bergman, took a gamble with this, her first play. But the gamble could pay- off. The area finals will be held at Reporoa on July 20. So that Taupo folk may see their entry, the play will be staged in the Memorial Hall tomorrow and Saturday. Profits will be given to the senior citizens association and the I.H.C. The cast is: — Chris Brettkelly, Jeanette McCulloch, Peace Toone, Tom Hudson, David Wainwright, Margaret Jenner, John Bonke and Len Bergman. M.F.