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Granting that the Cambridge Summer Theatre had only a few days for rehearsal and that Fay Wray, the female lead, met the cast she was to work with barely 24 hours before curtain time, "Personal Island," Brattle Hall's second offering, is definitely not up to the standards set by last week's "George Washington Slept Here."
A variation of the age-old theme, "Boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy gets girl," is the plot, the "lesson" being that people shouldn't do what others think is best but what they themselves think is best. Both plot and lesson would have been more palatable, however, had there been fewer muffed lines, missed cues and long, embarrassing pauses. Fay Wray has the main part in the show, and the management tells us in the program notes that it "feels honored to have this gracious lady and actress as guest star." Miss Wray, however, must put better expression into her lines and make her actions on the stage more original if she intends to have her audience equally "honored."
William Mendrek mugs his way into a pretty respectable rendition of a drunken newspaper editor, but Robert Perry is unconvincing as the male lead. A few catchy lines help to liven up the show, but they are too rare to compensate wholly for a comparatively poor plot and rather poor acting.
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