CONTEMPORARY ARTS
THE THEATRE
The Way a the World. By William Congreve. (New.)
THE trouble with most Restoration comedy is that it is exceedingly difficult to remember, and often almost equally difficult to care, who at any given stage of the proceedings has not yet been to bed with whom. In The Way of the World this handicap to our appreci- ation is reinforced by the almost cryptographic complexity of the interlocking swindles, ruses and confidence tricks which the characters are practising on each other for mercenary motives. The intricacy of the plot is tiresome. It is as though, gliding effortlessly down- stream in Congreve's saucy but stylish pleasure-craft, we were all compelled to disembark at frequent intervals to make a portage. We are removed, almost, out of one element into another : out of illusion into make-believe.
But in between the portages how much there is to enjoy ! The mellow irony (which in this production is not at all times differentiated quite firmly enough from cynicism) is clothed in a style which can dart, soar, stoop or hover like a hawk ; the rakes, fops, gulls and libertines move with a kind of flashing ilcm through a world whose worthlessness is redeemed by wit and which in any case seemed to Congreve too ridiculous a place to pass judgement on. For the actors it is a testing play, and though the Old Vic Company attack it with a will they do not carry the guns for a decisive victory. The Lady Wishfort of Dame Edith Evans dominates the evening, an almost too pathetic bundle of buttons and bows animated by the last flickers of carnality ; this is a fine and telling performance. Mr. Robert Eddison makes Witwould just the sort of mincing and inconsequent lapdog that Congreve meant him to be, Mr. Mark agnam gives a distinctive dourness to Petulant and Mr. Nigel Green as his oafish half-brother brings a bemused shrewd- ness from Shropshire to bear on the bewildering temptations of town. Miss Pauline Jameson presents effectively the dark glitter of Mrs. Marwood's malevolence and Miss Mary Mardew suggests the very relative innocence of Mrs. Fainall. But the characters of Mirabell and Millamant are really the core of the play, and as the former Mr. Harry Andrews gives only a workmanlike perform- ance, while the inner, if not the outer, dazzle of Millam,ant is still beyond the scope of Miss Faith Brook's talents. Mr. Berkeley Sutcliffe's costumes are good, but his scenery, though for the most part admirable in itself, has the effect of distracting attention from
Previous page
