Many thanks to the North East Wales Archives, Ruthin Branch and the Meredith Edwards Papers collection for this transcript from The Derby Evening Telegraph. Thanks also to Oliver Houston for requesting access.
October 2, 1956
by R.R.
WHY DID AUDIENCE APPLAUD?
In a few weeks’ time Roald Dahl’s new American farce, “Your Loving Wife,” will pack its bags, tidy up its loose ends and present itself fresh and sparkling before a West End audience.
After seeing the show at the Theatre Royal, Nottingham, last night and before the happy moment comes, I feel somebody ought to offer a few words of advice, and who better to do this than the dramatic critic?
I address myself first of all to you, Mr. Promoter. If I were you I shouldn’t count on too long a run. Yes, I know London audiences are notoriously keen on farce and that the word “American” seems to weave some inexplicable magic. But successful farce depends on a carefully-balanced sense of fun and quite frankly I see neither balance nor fun in this play.
GOLDEN RULE
And then you, Mr Playwright. You have tried to widen the comic opportunities of farce. For that you deserve credit, but in your quest for the unorthodox you have forgotten the golden rule of all farce: That the incidences should in some way (no matter how remote) be identifiable with life.
Do you really think your theme measures up to that? Two women with vintage years reared on Freud and nurtured on Kinsey, seeking to kill off their husbands as casually as they turn off the gas oven? Really, Mr. Dahl, that’s a bit much. It could have been glossed over if your situation and dialogue had the necessary crackle, but your funny lines had the isolation of desert oases.
NO U.S. ACCENT
I turn now to the cast. Agreed, you are English and the dialogue is overwhelmingly American. I think you were quite right to resist a New York drawl or settle for a mid-Atlantic compromise, but there are moments when certain of you could have tried an accent at such obviously American sounds as “yeah,” “dooty” and “shure.”
Hermione Baddeley, who takes on the arduous responsibilities of Maggie, is excused here. She spoke fluent English throughout and with her relaxed voice and acute sense of facial contortion made a most convincing schemer. Agnes Lauchlan, who plays Mary, could have widened her vocal range and gesture considerably and still kept well inside the extremes of character, but she made a workmanlike job of the part. In brief appearances, Joyce Barbour contributes a staggeringly powerful Mrs. Fleishmann.
Bu the star prize goes to Meredith Edwards for as accurate a representation of a peevish, decaying, weak-kneed display of senility I have seen for a long time.
Lastly, a word to the audience. Why didn’t you have the courage of your convictions? I saw many of you squirm uncomfortably at the earthy lines and groan politely at the unfertile chatter and yet you still clapped heartily at the end. Why?