Born in Edinburgh in 1912, playwright William Douglas Home was the third son of the 13th Earl of Home, and his oldest brother was Prime Minister Sir Alec Douglas Home. He showed a flair for writing at an early age and his first play was performed by his classmates at Eton in 1926 when he was only 14-years-old. During his lifetime, he wrote around 50 plays.
Written in 1967, William Douglas Home’s The Secretary Bird is a beautifully-written comedy.
When confused wife Liz tells her husband that she is leaving him for her much-younger lover John, he agrees to make it easier on her by giving her grounds for divorce. How? By being caught in flagrante sleeping with another woman… his pure-as-driven-snow (or is she?) secretary.
The Secretary Bird is being staged by Maleth at the Manoel Theatre next week.
Director Barry Calvert says that the play is really all about this “elegant” solution by one man to the problem of a pending divorce: “I love it! It portrays the upper middle class at their very best and very worst. My favourite lines are probably when Liz says about John: ‘He’s had three wives’ and Hugh responds: ‘Really. His own or other people’s?’
“It is thought-provoking, humorous and a very well crafted story with a real ending!!”
Mr Calvert says that rehearsals have been intense (he jokes that he gave the cast a 90-minute break for Christmas dinner).
“The cast members are all very experienced and, as I explained to them at our very first meeting, while we should enjoy fully the apparent lightheartedness of this play, we must never underestimate what is going on underneath this. Indeed there is a very strong marriage between humour and real-life drama.” And there was also drama during the rehearsal process of this play. One actor pulled out, and a new one stepped in... who then got struck down with bronchitis. Another actor disappeared to the Scandinavian wastelands over Christmas and at the time of writing, was apparently still stranded on some fjord or other!
Well-known for his eclectic sense of humour, Mr Calvert jokes that the cast have not been challenged overmuch in some aspects: for example actress Lizzie Eldridge’s plays Liz, while actor John Montanaro plays – you’ve guessed it – John!
Ms Eldridge says that the main difficulty for her has been trying to get to grips with the quite complex emotional conflicts which motivate her character.
“It’s been great getting to work on a play that’s very different to the kind I usually do. Liz could easily appear fairly superficial and one-dimensional but she’s got more to her than simply being a straightforward comic stereotype. At the same time, the play’s a comedy so too much analysis defeats the purpose and interferes with the playing style,” she says. The rest of the cast is made up of Kris Spiteri who plays Hugh and Jane Pillow as world-weary housekeeper Mrs Gray, as well as Sarah Jane Attard – who Mr Calvert states plays the secretary with a flair that is astonishing for one who is new to acting (she is actually a very experienced dancer).
Ms Attard is evidently enjoying playing her character, the secretary who loves everything about life.
“At times she may come across as a little annoying and over-polite. The challenge is therefore not to make her annoying by delivering the line in a less predictable way. In the last act she shows a very mature, intelligent and grounded side that makes her an interesting and rounded character. I am always up for a challenge and I look forward to studying her character further to perform to the best of my ability,” she says.
• The Secretary Bird is being staged at the Manoel Theatre on January 28, 29 and 30. Tickets can be obtained from the booking office by phone on 2124 6389 or online: www.teatrumanoel.com.mt.