THE Girl Who Couldn’t Quite made its stage debut at St Martins Theatre in London in 1947.
It was holding up well some eight years later when, as a young actor, Geoffrey OwenTaylor, played the part of the butler.
And, it’s still holding up well today, under the directorship of the same Geoffrey OwenTaylor, on stage at the Athenaeum in Lilydale.
What the girl couldn’t quite do in this sentimental drama by Leo Marks, is laugh.
Struck with ‘melancholy’ as a result of childhood experiences with her nanny, she finds salvation in an unlikely friendship with a Cockney tramp.
OwenTaylor has retained the authenticity of the play with a beautifully constructed setting, costumes and dialogue of the era. “If you take a play like this and put a modern approach to it, it just doesn’t have the same guts and effect,” he said.
While the girl, played by Becky Lee, couldn’t… that doesn’t mean that the audience can’t!
There are some delightful situations in the play, and a lot of light laughter, making for an entertaining evening of theatre.
The Girl Who Couldn’t Quite opened last Tuesday and continues through to 24 September.
To book phone 9735 1777 or 9735 4168.
