PLAYGOER

In the last two theatre seasons the gentle art of murder has come into its own before the footlights, both in comedy and tragedy. Carrying on in the debonair fashion set by "Arsenic and Old Lace," the play "Mr. and Mrs. North," deals with the more hilarious aspects of homicide. A very dead and bloody corpse is discovered keeping company with the scotch bottles in the liquor closet. Naturally its unwilling hosts, the Norths, are suspected, as is their small group of friends. Among these are such sinister characters as the dead man's wife and her lover as well as the dead man's mistress and her husband. The rest of the cast is made up of a broker who handles his friends' finances, a postman, and the Italian landlord. One of these--and the only one who is obviously innocent--is killed off just to keep the bloodthirsty happy. Meanwhile a suave detective and his typical Irish assistant try to put the clues together with the none-too-welcome help of the scatterbrained Mrs. North. Most mystery fans should be able to solve the murder just about two minutes before these minions of the law.

Lois Hall turns in a delightful performance as the slightly insane wife whose blunders all but send her husband off to prison. Owen Davis, Jr., (his father wrote the play and deserves great credit for the lively dialogue), is very pleasant as the husband even though he finds it difficult to remain in character. On the whole "Mr. and Mrs. North" is very good light entertainment especially for reading period. But if you have seen "Arsenic and Old Lace" you may find that homicide is hilarious only once.