Escapade

Last summer three plays were filling London theatres nightly. One, The Little Hut, was brought to the United States last month after a three year run in Britain. It lasted about a week o Broadway. Another of the trio, T.S. Eliot's The Confidential Clerk, is being readied for a New York premiere this season, possibly to redeem British drama in the eyes of this country. By the time Eliot's verse play arrives, however, it may have a task of double redemption. The third London hit, Escapade, is now on display in Boston and it is as glibly boring as The Little Hut.

The plot of Escapade is a whips about a Pacifist whose three sons flee boarding school, steal a plane, and fly to Geneva with an adolescents' peace petition. The play proves above all that children must be seen if the audience is going to hear abut them all evening. Icarus, the eldest son, is constantly discussed but is never on the stage. By description, he seems so colorful that it is curious for playwright Roger MacDougall to waste time with the boy's parents.

Despite his accomplishments, John Hampden-author, anti-war leader, and father of three-is a dull man. He struts about with quips like, "Of course people mean what they say, but do they always say what they mean?" Not all his lines are from Alice in Wonderland, but most are just as familiar. The dialogues between Hampden and Skillingworth, headmaster of the boys' school, intended to be bitingly acid, are only loud.

Since Escapade is such an unsatisfying combination of silly plot and sledge hammer dialogue, the cast can be praised for just keeping the audience in the theatre until the final curtain. Roger Livesey and Ursula Jeans, as the distraught parents, are well together; his gruff and her grace are both engaging. Melville Cooper is excellent in the last scene when his stock, pompous headmaster reveals his individuality.

To deplore the play further is useless. Escapade is here, though not for long. The reception of the first two English plays this season could be a warning to Mr. Eliot, however. He had best be prepared for a whimper.