"The Lucky One "

The lucky one," a play in three acts, by A. A. Milne, was presented by the College Dramatic Club on August 17th and 19th with the following cast and characters:—

Mr. Milne regards "The Lucky One" as one of his best plays and we are invited to endear ourselves to him by agreeing. But we must graciously decline. Many as are its sterling qualities—can one say otherwise of anything Milne writes?—it is, in our opinion, far less successful than plays like "Mr. Pym" or "The Dover Road." In particular, Pamela is an unsatisfactory piece of characterisation. We have a right to ask for precision in the delineation of so important a character, but from the beginning of the play to the end she remains colourless, invertebrate.

It is undeniable, however, that the play was worth doing, and we hasten to congratulate the Dramatic Club on a very successful show. The performance bore the unmistakable imprint of Miss Mary Cooley's skilful production, and much of the credit is certainly due to her. The cast was especially well selected and the acting as a whole was so consistently satisfactory that it is not an easy task to dole out the customary measures of commendation and criticism. Both Mr. Cowan, who played Gerald, and Mr. Cormack, who played Bob, gave very good performances in fairly heavy and exacting parts. The delicate business of switching the sympathies of the audience from Bob to Gerald was executed most effectively, and the quarrel scene in the third act was one of the high spots of the evening. The successive transformations of Sir James Farringdon's beard were a shade disconcerting, but otherwise Mr. Edwards wriggled into the skin of the worthy knight just as we expected him to. As Lady Farringdon, Miss Martyn-Roberts made the most of rather limited possibilities. The part of Pamela is admittedly difficult and unsatisfactory, but even when due allowances are made, there was a disappointing lack of precision about Miss Jupp's work. This was especially apparent in the scene where Pamela comes to break off her engagement to Gerald in order to marry Bob. The situation is presumably one productive of severe mental conflict, but we could not feel that this was in any way adequately indicated. If there was an outstanding performance it was that of Miss Atkinson, who played the aged Miss Farringdon with page 32 great sympathy and intelligence. Mr. Rollings was a bit slow off the mark on occasions, but that was perhaps excusable in a portrayal of the stolid and cautious Henry Wentworth. Miss Anderson's Letty and Mr. Bradshaw's Tommy were both capital. Our only regret was that we didn't see more of them. Such youthful verve was simply a joy to behold. Mr. Bradshaw, however, would be wise to watch a tendency to slur his lines—at least one good joke was lost. Minor parts were filled satisfactorily by Miss Henderson and Mr. Williams.

The College Orchestra was present and performed. We shall be tactful for once and leave it at that.