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Salient. An Organ of Student Opinion at Victoria College, Wellington, N.Z. Vol. 11, No. 7. June 23rd, 1948

[Introduction]

Take one good comedy, one stark drama, and one indifferent farce and place them in a stage the shape of the cook's hat. Wrap a couple of dozen of more or less competent players who do not know their lines in some inappropriate clothes and add them one by one. Tie the whole thing up with a curtain, but leave plenty of gaps. Simmer slowly under pale electric light, and keep some fuse wire handy. Serve the meal cold in three courses, each one garnished with one distracted producer. Charge 1/6 per head.

The V.U.C. Dramatic Society produced "Three One Acts" in the Gym on Friday, June 11. This annual function becomes worse every year; it is already worse than that of the Training College Drama Club. The general impression given is that neither the producers, nor the casts, nor the stage assistants are really keen on producing the plays.

Theodore Dreiser's "The Girl in the Coffin" is a good play, spoilt by too many long speeches. The arrangement of the stage made it all the more difficult for the actors. The long introductory sequence was tedious; in fact, there was really no dramatic intensity till Ferguson appeared. Paul Treadwell's performance in this part was the best of the evening. At a point when the play could easily have degenerated into melodorama, he alone was convincing. The only other performance worth mention was that of Dulcie Clifford as Mrs. Littig. With very few lines to say, she was the character who helped us to believe that there really was "A Girl in the Coffin."