University of Virginia Library

"Conduct Unbecoming"

Barry England's "Conduct
Unbecoming," which has been
imported from London, concerns
two young men who enlist in the
Indian Army in the late nineteenth
century. Drake, eager to pursue a
career in the military, takes a
serious outlook on his new life
while Millington, the son of a
former general, jokes and jests and
tries to get himself discharged in
any way possible. Then, a charge is
laid against Millington, a charge
that he attacked an attractive
widow in the bushes one night.
With Drake as his defense counsel,
he is quietly brought before a
kangaroo court made up of other
officers, who seem more interested
in convicting the chap than in
uncovering the truth.

After a relatively slow-moving
first act, this evolves into an
absorbing whodunit once the trial
begins and perhaps even a bit more
once Mr. England brings the
morality of the regiment into
question. The only disappointment
is in the play's resolution which,
though psychologically plausible I
suppose, unfortunately raises as
many questions as it answers and
seems just a trifle contrived.

Mr. England's writing is
occasionally cliched and his plot
structure isn't as air-light as it
should be, but he has a flair for
characterization and a knack for
building tension. Add to this the
smart direction of Val May and a
strong cast, splendidly headed by
Jeremy Clyde as Millington and
Paul Jones as Drake, and the result
is a rather intriguing entertainment.