THEATRE • No Other Verdict. By Jack Roffey. (Duchess.)—The Housemaster.
By Ian Hay. (St. Martin's.)
THE curtain goes up, an unknown man is seen trying to 'phone the police from some- One else's house, he is surprised by the arrival of an unseen enemy (after his hasty exit), there are two shots. Later the family returns, closely followed by the police who' find the body of a man in the garden. Very unpleasant for everyone concerned— especially- for the agreeable superintendent Who has to investigate the doings of his own friends. John Arnatt gives a notable perfor- mance in this key part, but none the less the phas does not quite come off. Jack Roffey the staged his thriller with great ingenuity, ;11,e switches from the scene of the crime to the assize court where the trial is taking 13,"aee are very well managed, the clash 'tween the policeman's duty and his personal feelings is dramatic, but something is lacking; there is no tension communicated to the audience. Perhaps it is that the solution is too easily guessed. We know that the obvious suspect has not done it, and even as innocent a spectator as myself made a very good shot at what had actually happened. Avid readers of detective stories will find it easier still; it falls into a well- worn pattern: variety 3c, according to the guide issued by the FLASH (Federation Internationale des Amis de Sherlock Holmes). Mr. Roffey must be a little more cunning
next time. Meanwhile what is lost in surprise is gained in self-satisfaction, and anyone who has failed to solve the morning's crossword puzzle can restore his ego at the Duchess Theatre. The cast and the producer do their best to make it an agreeable exercise.
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The Housemaster was a pleasant whimsey when first produced and in this revival gives one a sense of a stable world which is both curious and novel. At Marbledown School the years have stood still, hated headmasters are kicked upstairs into bishoprics by old boys who (by the most fortunate of coin- cidences) have become cabinet ministers, contact between youths of seventeen and a band of flappers produces nothing more disastrous than a midnight feast in the spare- room, house-masters are mercifully un- aware of their own motives for inflicting corporal punishment. 0 che bel vivere, che bel piacere! Jack Hulbert presides over this idyll with great verve and humour. Perhaps he is not enough of a bear, but it would be hard to be bearish to Winifred Shotter- even though she does descend on him with three of her nieces. The `smear' of a head- master is played with horrible truthfulness by Maurice Durant who manages to enter a room, while giving the impression of not actually moving his feet. I should like to know how this is done.
ANTHONY HARTLEY
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