A PLAY FOR SOUTHLAND

New Zealand Listener, Volume 37, Issue 935, 12 July 1957, Page 11

A PLAY FOR SOUTHLAND

Sir,-Your correspondent A. R. Dunlop has fallen over himself in his anxiety to rush to Mr Frank Newman’s aid. He says that by judging The Montgomeries only from its script I have shown that "I do not appreciate what I am talking about." I think I am right in saying that Mr Newman’s original judgment was made from the script alone. That being so, the same objection must surely apply to his opinion as well? Or does Mr Dunlop have a conveniently double standard? Secondly, Mr Dunlop admits there are weaknesses in the play, but they are not the same as those I have pointed out. This gives me even greater cause for thinking that The Montgomeries is an _ indifferent play. Mr Dunlop’s insinuation that I am acting on behalf of someone else I consider both distasteful and impertinent. I am quite capable of independent action, but Mr Dunlop evidently believes that no sensible person would find The Montgomeries less perfect unless he had some ulterior motive for doing so. I have had some 10 years’ professional experience overseas, but since my qualifications have been asked for, perhaps I ought to mention that I am a third generation New Zealander-which does, I think, have a certain bearing on the subject. Mr Newman was offended because I did not ask him to justify his decision, but merely asserted ("rudely") that it was bad. His justification appeared to consist mainly of the equally dogmatic assertion that The Montgomeries is "a good play, perhaps even a very good play." This may be an admirable expression of opinion, but it is hardly a reasoned argument for his case. Mr Newman also informed me that there were other plays "more _ pretentious, more pompous, more incomprehensib'e than the winning one." If it means anything at all, this means that The Montgomeries is pretentious, pompous and incomprehensible-which is precisely the point I cesired to make. Mr Newman complained that I missed the whole point of the play and that I had no sense of style, but he did not try to show me what point or what style the play contains. He also called the dialogue "excellent," and upbraided me for my lack of period feeling. I can only say that if Mr Montgomerie’s constant ejaculation of "Haw, haw!" and "By George!" constitutes excellent period dialogue our ruce forefathers must have been even more tediously longwinded than I had supposed. I remain unrepentant and unconvinced. Playwriting in New Zealand is surely not in such desperate straits that The Montgomeries can be considered a genuinely typical example.

PETER

HARCOURT

(Wellington).