21 MARCH 1931, Page 12

The Theatre

[" STRICTLY DISHONOURABLE." BY PRESTON STURGES. AT THE PHOENIX THEATRE ]

THE day after the production of Strictly Dishonourable I happened to read a criticism by one whose sense and judgment I greatly respect. My eye fell upon these words, and words like these—" dirt on the stage, goes beyond reasonable decency, Wycherley." . . . Mr. Cochran (I thought) has been naughty again. We shall see.

But what I saw next was another notice which expressly asserted that the play was " fresh and original " and " free from unpleasant suggestion and sniggers." (" Sniggers," as a matter of accuracy, usually come from the audience, in response to " suggestion " in the play.) And then came a third account which agreed with the second. " A delicious refreshment in its grace and tenderness "—so it described this " absolutely charming little play." ('When does a play become " little " ? Usually, I find, when it begins to be silly.)

Here, then, was matter for anticipation. Here—now that I have seen the little play—is also matter for debate. Dirt or freshness ? Indecency or delicious refreshment ? Wycherley or Barrie ? The Country Wife or Peter Pan? For though the dramatic merits or defects of a play may often unite the critics, it is obvious (after the quotations given) that its morals may bitterly divide them. So that, after a few days' meditation, one is afraid of taking a side. One blushes before writing. If one sees dirt where charm is intended, one will be admitting openly to a mind that goes beyond reasonable- decency.

May I confess, however, that I thought I heard sniggers in the audience on the second night—particularly amongst the vieux messieurs who surrounded me ? Naughty old things, they evidently misconceived the meaning and purpose of this sweet idyll of a New York speakeasy, into which strays a pretty little (and silly) girl named Isabel, obviously longing for a good time and clamouring for drinks, of which she takes several. Her fiancé is with her—a dull, domestic youth, shown from life by Mr. George Meeker. He bores her. He lives in New Jersey. We don't know, we can't guess, why he brought Isabel to the siThkeasy ; but, once she got there with her imbecile look, and her habit of extending her arms and uttering a goosey-gander sound something like Ah-yoo I " it was no wondee that a wandering Judge (Yankee type) took a paternal interest in her, and that Mr. Tullio Carminati (as a distinguished opera singer) invited her to his bedroom upstairs, the prig fiance having by that time gone off in a fit of intoxicated jealousy.

Refreshing, in its way ! Delibious, in a sense ! Because dear little imbecile Isabel seemed—to the pure in heart—not in the least to know what any of the strange gentlemen wanted of her. Yet we are not sure. She must have known. She must surely have thought it odd—coming, though she did, from Virginia's woods—that a rich Italian opera singer offered her shelter for the night, telling her that his intentions were " 'strictly dishonourable." She seemed not only to know, but to be annoyed when (Act II) the singer, overcome by her innocence (or by her over-acted virginity), thrust a big Teddy Bear into bed with her and left her furious—why ? We simply don't know—if the play is so free from suggestion. We might know if Wycherley had a hand in it. In the result (after Act II) we are left blushing at our own impulse to blush. Or did we blush at the unblushing sniggers of the vieux messieurs?

Anyhow, after much delicious dressing and undressing it all comes right. Isabel's innocence mixed with—what can one call it ?—her inviting disposition, so conquer the Italian that he descends from the dear old Judge's room above and offers her his hand, which always has been an honourable end to little plays like this. I can only add : Take it as you find it—or rather as you find yourself ; noticing nothing queer, or else detecting " dirt on the stage."

The American actors do well, so soon as you can understand their lingo, rendered at first obscure by interposition of Italian accents. Miss Margaret Perry, who plays Isabel, is very pretty. I thought she needlessly exaggerated the idiocy of the character. But it is best to be on the safe side.

RICHARD JENNINGS.