The Mint Theatre specializes in rediscovering “forgotten” plays; more accurately
reviving plays that were hits (or at least notable) in their day but have been
rendered marginal as time and tide have altered audience sensibility. The plays
are almost always intriguing little visits to the time capsule, which makes
them worthwhile as a glimpse into a bygone era that sturdier classics don’t
provide as much—ironically because they’re not dated. But
as entertainingly as they can be presented, these obscurities rarely vibrate
with the energy of necessity, and Mary Broome by Allan Monkhouse is no exception. It’s a stiff comedy-drama of
manners and mores about a rich gadabout who gets one of the family maids (the
title character) pregnant. Dad demands he marry her, and when asked if that’s
what she wants, the reply is, “I should like to marry somebody”—which
didn’t quite have the ring of submissiveness and absurdity then than it does
now.
Under
the direction of Jonathan Bank, it’s
all done well, if not exceptionally, and by and large that’s true of the
casting too. I personally found it slight, sexless stuff but in fairness one
must note: my companion of the evening was somewhat more taken with it than I,
and the engagement has extended twice. So this may be one where a second
opinion is warranted.
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