16 AUGUST, 2011


Secretary Bird sees top performances from actors in full flight

The Secretary Bird
Murrayfield Parish Church Centre, Ormidale Terrace

***
www.edinburghnews.com  EVENING NEWS
Secretary Bird photo
DRY WIT: Secretary Bird is an old-fashioned comedy

   A DRY wit underpins Edinburgh Makars' solid production of William Douglas-Home's old-fashioned 1960s comedy. Set in the country home of writer Hugh Walford, the comedy follows his younger wife Liz's announcement that she is about to elope with a handsome American, John.

Instead of flying off the handle, Hugh proposes that he will do the right thing by her, and give her the grounds for divorce.

Derek Melon makes a solid Hugh, a convincing buttress of common sense as he announces that he will invite his secretary, Molly, down for the weekend, so he can be found in bed with her by the housekeeper - an outraged Jan Renton.
   Emma Needs' Liz is spot on, determined but faltering as Hugh also invites John to stay. Her sense of being torn as Hugh carries on his stiff-upper lip act is excellently observed.

Evening News Drama Awards 2011   



  Anna Kenyon also gives a great performance as Molly, a fish out of water.

Director Margaret Milne could have pushed John Hogg much harder for the insipid John, however.

The humour here lies not in quick and witty one-liners, but in the recognition that the correct order of things will be preserved against the rising tide of modernity.

Run ends August 20

Thom Dibdin