Androcles and the Lion

Natural phenomena and man-made disturbances, in the form of rain and low flying airplanes, are not the perfect adjuncts to a dramatic performance. In spite of these hindrances, however, the Group 20 players' Androcles and the Lion came off smoothly and with great finesse.

Against the cleverly stylized sets of William Roberts, this Shavian comedy is played with great attention to the point: the wit generated by the exchange of ideas and viewpoints. The absurdity of the reformer and his drive is set against the absurdity of the existing order and the complacency of its representatives. Shaw would have us be, in the words of Caesar, "neither bigoted in our attachment to the old nor rash and unpractical in keeping an open mind for the new."

The direction of Jerome Kilty is largely responsible for the clarity of the above point. He has paced the play well and mounted it beautifully. Each of the several enthusiasms of the Christians and the Romans comes through in perfect counterpoint to the others: the callous Caesar and the Captain who is in love stand apart from the brawling gladiators; the cowardly and debauched Christian, Spintho, pairs off against the iron Ferrovius as Ferrovius sets off the lovely, if confused, Lavinia. All revolves, however, around the gentle and humanitarian Androcles, and never more clearly than in the touching, though unspoken devotion to Lavinia he shows in the ante-room of the arena--a very neat piece of ensemble staging as well.

The show very much belongs to Kilty; not only for his direction, but also for his portrayal of Shaw in the interpolated scene at the beginning of the play, and his worldly, bored Caesar, who suddenly comes to life when nuzzled by the lion. But it is a fortunate director who has much talent to work with. Each of the principals clearly deserves mention and praise for his individual delineations as Kilty does for the fine group work.

Frederic Warriner's touching and gentle Androcles stays always above the merely coy and cute and manges to avoid any hint of the sentimental excess into which the character might fall in less capable hands. The Ferrovius of Robert Evans is wonderfully full and strong, yet fully cognizant of the weakness forced upon him by an overactive conscience. The Christian Lavinia, blown first this way and then that by her emotions, is given stature and grace by Laurinda Barrett, in a performance notable for the clarity of its projection of constantly shifting moods and attitudes. Of the others, Louis Edmonds is properly virile in the unrewarding part of the "handsome captain," and Stanley Jay as Spintho has perhaps the best single comic moment in the play and makes the most of it.

But what of the lion? He is human and wonderful as Shaw wished him, with an incredible collection of vocal grunts, growls, and contortions; he dances well, also. He is played by William Ball.

When played well and clearly conceived by director and actors there is nothing in the modern repertory as enjoyable as Shavian comedy. Androcles and the Lion is Shaw near the top of his form; the performance at Wellesley is the Group 20 players at the top of their form.