Thor, With Angels

Christopher Fry has conceived an ageless moral problem in soft verse and poetic action. "Thor, With Angles" sets this problem in 6th century England where a Jute warrior repents his war spirit and, with fear and no dogmatism, becomes a Christian. "We are afraid," he says, in peroration, "To live by the rule of God, which is forgiveness,/Mercy and compassion, fearing that by these/ We shall be ended. And yet if we could bear/These three through dread and terror and terror's doubt . . . I cannot think/We should be the losers."

As compelling as this moral theme is, it suffers from intermittent verbosity and from occasional abstruseness. Yet the play is something more than moral theme. Although some of the characters are idea symbols, Cymen, the Jute upon whom the whole play is built, is a wholly credible human being.

A worthy production would demand Fry's own intangible sense of beauty, and it is this sense which is too lacking in the H.D.C.-Canterbury Player version. Considering that most of the players have had little acting experience. Director Lester Gilmore deserves much praise for bringing out a modicum of good drama. Most polished of his performers are the comical John Kettlewell and Janet Sobel; Robert E. Brasbares in the lead role has flashes of brilliance, but his delivery is too often forensic.