The School Play

We must end by congratulating our former Housemaster, Mr. Smith, on his engagement, and wish him many years of happiness in the new post to which he is going at the beginning of next term.

" The Crooked Billet " was given by the St. Peter's Players on Saturday and Monday, December 18th and 20th, 1937. For a cast of young actors without much experience it proved very suitable. The story of secret service men at grips with a gang of crooks gave scope for rapid and exciting action, repeated ups and downs of fortune and a succession of thrilling surprises. Such a play demands, above all, the quality of speed in the actors. They came through this test with flying colours. The action was never allowed to drag, the dialogue was kept crisp, and the complete absence of hitches and loose ends was proof of careful rehearsal and resourceful stage management. Another point where young actors often fail—and many older ones, too, on the modern stage—is audibility. One famous dramatic critic dips his pen in vitriol almost weekly to bewail the cult of the inaudible on the London stage. The modern actor, he says, thinks it a crime to be heard beyond the third row of stalls. And so it is pleasant to record that on this occasion most of the actors could be distinctly followed from the back row of the gallery : and this was particularly true of the character whose words it was most important to hear, Guy Merrow.

And so to the individual performances. R. S. Dixon, as Guy Merrow, was entirely at ease, and gave a quiet, incisive, level-headed rendering of his lines, which 'impressed on the audience that here was the cool and efficient secret service man who could cope with any emergency. This quiet incisiveness was especially noticeable in Act I, and was there especially valuable, because it struck at once the note on which the character was to be played. Guy Merrow was well supported by Sir William Easton (J. M. Rucklidge) and his daughter, Joan (P. R. G. Graham), both of whom were the more effective because they spoke and moved with restraint. Joan, especially, never seemed to be speaking much above a whisper, yet every word told. As the " Doctor," the villain of the piece, P. B. Cockburn registered scorn, brutality and boastfulness with a gusto that carried conviction: a pleasing study in venom. J. C. Atkinson, as Philip Easton, looked 14

and sounded the young man just down from the University. But we found it hard to believe that he had boxed for his University: he looked just a thought too elegant. H. A. Milburn was a spirited Potman, and H. A. S. Hobson, as one of the gang of " toughs," had imported a most convincing Chicago accent at very short notice. Mrs. Wimple, landlady of " The Crooked Billet," is apparently an ample and motherly old dear. But appearances are deceptive, and G. P. G. Stephenson succeeded in being both spacious and specious. R. N. Rimmer and M. S. Douglas, two more gangsters, simply oozed toughness, just as if it came natural: while R. C. Lynch, as a Police Inspector, was no more simple and stupid than a stage policeman is expected to be.

The setting—the half-timbered inn parlour—was a triumph of ingenuity and economy of space. And it must be recorded that the pistols went off, and the bomb didn't, with unfailing regularity. " THE CROOKED BILLET " By Dion Titheradge. CHARACTERS (in order of appearance).

" Slick " Palzer Sir William Easton Rodgers Currall Mrs. Wimple Alf (the Potman) Philip Easton Joan Easton

H. A. S. Hobson J. M. Rucklidge R. N. Rimmer M. S. Douglas G. P. G. Stephenson H. A. Milburn J. C. Atkinson P. R. G. Graham

Guy Merrow The Doctor

R. S. Dixon P. B. Cockburn Inspector Hitching R. C. Lynch

The action of all three acts takes place in the parlour of a small village inn in Kent, called " The Crooked Billet," and is continuous. Play Produced by K. H. Rhodes, Esq. Stage Carpenters and Electricians : A. E. Schofield and G. Emmel.

During the intervals an orchestra played under the direction of P. H. Sykes, Esq. 15