William Douglas Home’s The
Secretary Bird is pretty good entertainment by
any standards and the production by director Val May
at the Yvonne Arnaud met most of the requirements. The
play seemed a trifle tedious through slow delivery at
times but the overall effect was hilarious and fully
deserved the immense ovation it received. The
two men have the plum roles and they both revelled in
them. Gerald Harper played Hugh Walford, the
aggrieved husband who called his secretary to his
home, with great charm. His dry tone of voice
and timing of the many punch lines brought out the
seriousness of his situation for full laughter value.
Geoffrey Davies played to the debonair, self centred
John Brownlow. All the personal sarcasms
directed at him were recorded in his face and
movements and were thrown over with a shrug of the
shoulders. The women did not have quite the same
opportunity for laughs but Hayley Mills reacted
splendidly to the ever changing situations as
she soughht to run away with Brownlow and get her
divorce from Walford. Kate Dunn was the secretary
bird. She made it a bright and seemingly naive
personality, and the housekeeper Mrs Gray was a
hilarious comedy character played by Joanna Henderson.
The set designed by Graham Brown was a sumptuous
Hampshire drawing room which did much for the play.