Theater Reviews—

Dated Clichés Don’t Drown Good Efforts In ‘Outward Bound’

By Julie Stern

BROOKFIELD — Decades before Rod Serling was carving out a name for himself in the annals of fifties television, the English playwright Sutton Vane ventured into the Twilight Zone himself with his “comedy-drama” Outward Bound, which is currently being staged at the Brookfield Theatre for the Arts under the direction of Suzanne Kinnear.

The entire play takes place in the dining-lounge of an ocean liner, populated by a group of travelers brought together by their presence on this mysterious ship, on a journey they don’t quite understand, toward an unknown destination.

In the world of pre-war England, the “voyage out” usually referred to the trip out to the far reaches of the empire, by stalwart colonials on their way to “take up the white man’s burden,” and indeed the passenger list contains an assortment of Imperial British stock types — the cynical drunk, the haughty grande dame,  the arrogant industrialist, the jolly clergyman, and a distinctly non-upperclass woman who seems frightened to find herself in the midst of such folk. And, there are the pleasant but nervous young couple who seem as if they might be eloping.

It’s all reminiscent of the tales of Somerset Maugham, until the menfolk start to add up the clues and figure out that they are all dead, and that this ship is heading toward that unknown territory where we go after we die.

Comedy rears its head when the clergyman, Duke, upon being asked to provide some sort of leadership and solace, announces that if they are all dead, his work is over, and he is now free to recite bawdy limericks.

More importantly, it becomes apparent that the ship is heading for a place where a mysterious “examiner” will test each passenger and decide whether that person goes to heaven or hell, based on their behavior and attitudes. (If you look at the list I bet you can figure out who is going to end up where)

This is a dated play, weighed down by the clichés of its time, by the genteel ingrained anti-semitism of 1920s England, and by languid style of drawing room manners that characterized Tories at leisure.

That said, it is an interesting story and MS Kinnear and her players have invested a good deal of work in the show. I wish that they had not attempted to do the show in “British” English, because the effort to trying to speak in an assumed accent can become so great that it interferes with the task of capturing the underlying character. Some of the actors managed very well, however, particularly Matt Austin as the alcoholic Mr Prior, and Kim O’Halloran, who did a very good job as the indomitable Mrs Midget, who might have come from a lower class, but was willing to stand up to the snobbery of the others.

Gary Miller, as the Reverend Duke, and Fred Schipul, as the Examining Angel, were also very believable, but they solved the accent problem by not trying to use one.

As for the rest, they all appeared to be having an enthusiastically good time, as were their friends in the audience.

 (This production continues on Friday and Saturday evenings at 8 until September 24.

Contact the theater at 775-0023 for reservations and ticket details.)