The Argosy Players - As long as they're happy

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THE ARGOSY PLAYERS - LIVERPOOL

The Argosy Players in: As long as they’re happy by Vernon Sylvaine

Staged: 11 to 13 December 1958 at Crane theatre Hanover Street Liverpool

Time for an uproarious farce, as the Argosy Players select “As Long as They’re Happy” to warm up three winter evenings in December 1958. By now, the players have the experience to be able to turn their hand to any kind of production, and are not afraid to have a go – often to critical acclaim. In “As Long as They’re Happy”, one actor is required to give an air of “spiviness AND effeminacy” and Martins Bank Magazine calculates that to do this properly, he should have had a better costume than “just sports clothes to disguise his manliness”! (Ooh Matron!) We must remember that these are times when everything from effeminacy to same sex relationships are generally driven underground, hidden from the public’s view, and sadly of course criminalised, with people ignorantly believing the wholly incorrect stereotype that you can’t be gay and manly at the same time! The play includes a straight-laced father railing against his daughters’ choice of men, an existentialist (?) a maid, and a doctor with a German accent! Also “one wild oat” is sown! It seems just about anything could happen and probably, it does. All aboard then for this classic farce, reported for us by Martins Bank Magazine’s Summer 1958 edition…

FOR their December 1958 production the Argosy Players chose the well-known uproarious farcical comedy in three acts As Long As They’re Happy, by Vernon Sylvaine. They produced it on three nights, 11th 12th and 13th December at Crane Theatre, Liverpool. The plot concerns the trials of a strictly orthodox city business man whose daughters fall in love with a crying crooner, an existentialist and a cowboy respectively. The play brought out some very good acting and it was refreshing to see one or two of our more experienced members given their chance to prove themselves in parts other than those in which we have been accustomed to see them. For all-round excellence Norman Hubbard’s portrayal of the city man would be hard to beat. He has an excellent speaking voice and his interpretation in the later scenes of the behaviour of a slightly inebriated member of the Stock Exchange was particularly convincing. The gradual transition from being a model of stiff conventionality to the state of mind in which he permits himself to sow one wild oat was very cleverly portrayed.
Brian Isaac, Valerie Parish and Norman Hubbard		Valerie Lever, Norman Hubbard, Ken Maddison, Maud Melville and Diana Hamilton
Maud Melville, as the gushing wife, theatrical of voice and gesture, perfectly offset the dry, matter-of-fact tones of her more prosaic husband. It was a part which demanded continuous maintenance of effort throughout the play and we did not detect a single lapse. It was a very welcome change of type of part which was obviously very stimulating to her. The three daughters were played by Valerie Tilley, Valerie Parish and Diana Hamilton. Valerie Tilley as the girl who falls hopelessly in love with the crying crooner was excellent, especially in the emotional scenes which can be so wooden and artificial if they are not done well. For the time being we got the impression that she is the type of girl who really would fall for a crooner, which is a great tribute to her talent as an amateur actress. She presented the picture of a young and inexperienced girl with tremendous charm. Valerie Parish is a competent amateur with an excellent voice and a good sense of theatre and she gave us a confident portrayal of the wife of the existentialist. The portrayal was rather overpowering, however, and she did not convince us that such a strong and balanced personality would fall for the crackpot existentialist. Far and away her best portrayal was in the scene where she reverts to her old self; a sweet and appealing scene.
Marshall Hesketh & Bill Brookes	So far as Diana Hamilton was concerned, as her appearance with Ken Maddison came right at the end of the play, as a curtain, and only one sentence was spoken, there is nothing we can say except that they both looked their parts as the cowboy and cowgirl, as our photograph shows. An unusually important part for a maid was played by Valerie Lever, another mesmerised victim of the crying crooner. Every time he spoke to her, she fainted. She did it extraordinarily well. The crooner himself was played by Marshall Hesketh. In the difficult scenes during which he has to sing and cry at the same time he was magnificent, but costume was rather out of character and something more than sports clothes seemed to be needed to disguise his manliness and introduce an element of “spiviness” and effeminacy. Or have we got the wrong idea about crooners ?			Valerie Tilley & Valerie Barrett

Brian Isaacson, Maud Melville and Norman Hubbard			The doctor was played by Bill Brookes. Broken English with a German accent was Bill's particular problem in a part which he portrayed well, but at times he was almost inaudible.Full marks to Brian Isaacson for the best performance, as the existentialist, which we have seen him give. His portrayal was a pleasant breakaway from the dour, somewhat heavy parts with which he has been typed too often. Valerie Barrett played the part of the lady who has been engaged to entertain the city man and help him to sow the wild oat already referred to. She was appropriately gowned in a somewhat seductive dress and attention was drawn to the rut into which the city man had allowed his ideas to get bogged down by his failure to respond to the stimulus of her presence in the orthodox manner. She certainly exercised charm.
The part of the news reporter was played by Bryan Isaac who chose the quieter portrayal rather than that of the importunate news hawk. As a result, he gained more sympathy from the audience than was probably the intention of the playwright.The play was produced by Sidney Costin, and a special word of thanks is due to Alan Mills for his cheerful and untiring service as Stage Manager and to Audrey McPherson, who, as prompter had no prompting to do at all, but who faithfully performed this dull and exacting job and attended on every occasion when she was needed.