The Hangman's Rope
| ISTENING to the NZBS production " of Eden Philpotts’s The Gentle Hangman makes one wonder what sort of audience could enjoy such a play, It had no subtlety of insight into character; it was not noticeably well written; the theme was hackneyed, and too much inessential dialogue destroyed any sav- | ing grace of suspense the bare idea of the plot may have appeared to have. Nellie, the belle of the village, courted by two men, marries one who is_ "framed" by the other, and it is the eve of the execution. With consummate daring, Nellie steals the hangman’s rope, the villain confesses, Nellie’s husband is given a golden guinea by the hangman, says "God bless ‘ee, zur," or some bucolic equivalent, and they all live happily ever after, even the hangman who departs to hang a wife-murderer the next day. Since Eden Philpotts is presumably still in copyright, this must have been an expensive play to produce, | and the production was carefully done. | Because of the quality of the play, how- | ever, both time and money were wasted. |
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https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/periodicals/NZLIST19530710.2.19.7
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New Zealand Listener, Volume 29, Issue 730, 10 July 1953, Page 11
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180The Hangman's Rope New Zealand Listener, Volume 29, Issue 730, 10 July 1953, Page 11
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Copyright in the work University Entrance by Janet Frame (credited as J.F., 22 March 1946, page 18), is owned by the Janet Frame Literary Trust. The National Library has been granted permission to digitise this article and make it available online as part of this digitised version of the New Zealand Listener. You can search, browse, and print this article for research and personal study only. Permission must be obtained from the Janet Frame Literary Trust for any other use.
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