The Road Back

New Zealand Listener, Volume 37, Issue 950, 25 October 1957, Page 20

The Road Back

‘THE theme ‘of the restless soldier-turned-civilian, the man, who, having breathed exotic airs and tasted ‘the Services’ freedom-in-discipline, finds ‘home and a routine job hollow, was as ‘common in plays and novels just after ‘World War II as the type himself was. ‘But Willis Hall’s play One Man Returns "1YA), by making its hero a National ‘Serviceman back from Malaya showed ‘that the situation could still: be a topi‘cal one. This was a simple-hearted play, ‘and, in its way, a good one, a drama which interested me less because it had ‘anything new to say (Johnny Johnson ‘settles down eventually) than because ‘tthe ordinary people who were its char‘actefs were accufately and compas‘sionately observed. Perhaps the Lan‘cashire dialect helped to give this sense ‘of homely reality, but Mr Hall’s use ‘of the circling repetitions, the popular ‘idioms, and the half-inarticulate sen‘ttences of Mancufiian colloquial usage had more style than the language of the ‘usual dialect play. Altogether an honest, ‘satisfying job, skilfully produced, in which the NZBS cast gave a good ac‘count of themselves, most notably Pattrick Smythe, whose Johnson was played with genuine understanding and ‘warmth.