University of Virginia Library

'The Knack'

Dinner Theater Scores

By David Greer

"The Knack," which runs
through February 25 at the Charlottesville
Dinner Theater, is by
far that theater's best offering this
season.

The play, by English playwright
Ann Jellicoe, is a study in the
art of seduction (a fact which
certainly should recommend it to
the University community). In a
Greenwich Village apartment
house, three young men exercise
their charm on a bewildered girl
who wanders in to ask for directions.
One is a deadly serious,
rather cynical girl-chaser who
seems to devote most of his time
to perfecting his craft; the second
is an ineffectual and very shy
school teacher; and the third is
a humorous, whimsical fellow who
is determined that the professional
will not have his way with the
girl. The game the four play, the
machinery of seduction, provides
the action of the play.

While it's obviously possible to
see "The Knack" as a social
commentary on "modern society's
dehumanization" (or something
equally vague), it seems better to
take it for what it is on the surface:
a very funny show without
an overabundance of plot
or a pretension to great underlying
meaning.

R. G. Brown as Colin, the
awkward school teacher, gives perhaps
the best performance. The
mobility of his facial expressions
and his fumbling, earnest manner
seem ideal for the part. Bill Gerber
is convincing as the
professional girl-chaser even
though Miss Jellicoe has drawn
the character with an exactness
which leaves the actor with little
latitude.

Bruce Hyde as the whimsical
mediator between the two other
men manages to bring to his part
a feeling of sensitivity beneath
the humor of the immediate situation-a
feeling that largely serves
to hold the performance together.
Judith Granite successfully communicates
the character of an innocent,
but not really so innocent,
country girl lost in the city. She
has a delightful comic manner
which she makes full use of as
the center of male attention.

Charles Gnys directs "The
Knack" with close attention to the
gestures and movements of the
actors, pulling as many laughs from
the play as possible. He seems to
make the necessary assumption
that "The Knack" should be presented
straight-forwardly as a
comedy, eliminating anything approaching
social comment.

As always the food at the Dinner
Theater is good, the surroundings
pleasant, and the staff more
than courteous. With the management's
new policy of giving student
discounts, there is no excuse
for anyone missing this most entertaining
evening.