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British Actors Company at BAAA Presents'Way of the World:'Post Puritan PlottingFebruary 21,1974 PHOENIX Pag* isA scene from \BY CORRINE COLEMANid William, the director of the fourth British Actors Company production in the current Brooklyn Academy of Music repertory %u2014 Willia SCongreve%u2019s %u201cThe Way of the World,%u2019%u2019has taken the Restoration (or post-Restoration) comedy on a time trip and zoomed it into an era nearer our own. As the curtain lifts we are faced with the scheming males of late 17th century high society in Edwardian togs, in a distinctly Edwardian English club setting with a telephone attached to the club%u2019s polished walls. A chauffeur too, is part of the action.The two century jolt and the jump into less than clarifying first business between the crafty Fainall and Mirabell, may cause difficulty for the playgoer whose last encounter with Congreve and the post-puritan era in EnglandIt was a full house last Thursday night that celebrated Valentine%u2019s Day at Park Slope%u2019s newest night spot, %u201cCabaret at Michels.%u201d The softly lit, rose hued room had the intimacy of a parlour gathering as couples, small groups and larger parties sipped drinks at the tables that ringed the platform where the Norman Fiels Duo held court ebulliently.With rapt attention, the audience listened to Field%u2019s supper club fare of old favorites and popular show tunes punctuated with teasing asides and witty conversational transitions. With true show biz aplomb, the charismatic Fields, accompanied by Bryan Torff on bass, delivered an opening night repertoire of songs and briskly delivered ad libs that the audience found both provocative and downright captivating. Casually attired, Fields sat animatedly at the piano belting out song after song including a lusty, joyous %u201c Cabaret%u201d and an especially poignant %u201cMy Funny Valentine.%u201dwas back in College days.However Congreve%u2019s cutting lines and his overview soon gathers steam and pierces the various vivants, churls, dandies and true nobles as they enter the arena, and as the complicated plotting and counter plotting by these characters is unravelled. The patterns of the mostly cynical often risque society which was reacting to the previous up tight Puritan era becomes clear as the play moves on; as does the director%u2019s point in effecting his parallel..Winding through the dizzy flailings of Lady Wishfort awaiting a potential husband (who is proved imminently unsuitable) past the bumbling of Sir Wilful Witwoud the bumpkin who is pushed to woo Millamant, (the princess of class), we come to the high point of the play, which takes us beyond any particular time and proves the author more than a mere satirist. Congreve, in dialogue unexcelled,Host George Michel was on hand to greet guests who were effusive in their praise of the restauranteur%u2019s new entertainment offering. Slope resident and manager of the Fields Duo, Bob Murphy, was most pleased with the response to the %u201cCabaret%u201d evening and reported that Friday and Saturday nights%u2019 performances were equally well received. %u201c We were extraordinarily fortunate to get a performer of Norman%u2019s caliber to open Cabaret,%u201d noted Murphy, %u201cand we%u2019re delighted to find ourpoints to his vision of the truly proper society %u2014 where love between Millament and Mirabell %u2014 two superior spirits %u2014 triumphs.With lines like Millamant%u2019s to her fiance: %u201cOh I hate a lover that can dare to think he draws a moment%u2019s air independent of his mistress. There is not so impudent a thing in nature as the saucy look of an assured man confident of success,%u201d the couple swing back and forth with pre-marital conditions, yet with an awareness of the inevitable post-marriage shift %u2014 (she to %u201cdwindle into a wife%u201d %u2014 he to %u201c become enlarged into a husband%u201d ).The sensibility and language of the author blazes during the duet, and the players, Caroline Blakiston as Millament and Edward Petherbridge as the once rakish Mirabell, perform with deep feeling and a sparkling overglow.Amid performances in this Actors Company production thataudience shares our enthusiasm and appreciation.%u201dThe no-cover, no-minimum cabaret is an experiment geared to meeting the changing needs of a changing community. Guests were dressed for the most part informally and on Thursday night, many stayed for the entire evening%u2019s prograni starting at 9p.m. through 1a.m. %u201cCabaret at Michels%u201d is open on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights; Field%u2019s engagement is presently scheduled for three more weeks.include what amounts to a walk-on by Ian McKellen, (who takes over %u201cKing Lear,%u201d in his role as Edgar) Sharon Duce stands out as %u201cFoible%u201d , Marian Diamond as %u201c Mrs. Fainall%u201d and Paola Dionisotti as %u201cMarwood.%u201d John Woodvine as Sir Wilfull Witwould and Margery Mason as %u201cLady Wishfort,%u201d stand up to their foppish roles and perhaps go a bit beyond with a plethora of quivers and tumbles.All in all the Actors Company%u2019s production of a play seen infrequently in these parts is well worth a viewing %u2014 for reasons literary and historical and for themasterful delineation of the lovers during the second act.Banquet CelebrationThe Anniversary Committee of Bethlehem Lutheran Church in Boerum Hill has announced a series of events to celebrate the Church%u2019s 100 yea.s of service starting with a Banquet, April 20. The dinner will be held at Fort Hamilton Officers Club, 102nd and Ft. Hamilton Parkway. Tickets for the dinner are $12.50 and may be purchased at the Bethlehem Church office, 490 Pacific St., Tel: MA 4-0242.Brooklyn-Progress tr s-0696-7-8 Blue Print Co.Xerox, O ffset, Photostats19 4 J e r a to m o n S t. M o n - F r i 8am-5pmScotto Funeral Home106 First Place Brooklyn, N.Y.Salvatore Buddy Scotto, President TR 5-2515ATTENTION: Self-employed, Professionolslean help vou take i U V C K rA Iadvantaqe of everv \Y A 1 I D l9 k lf* A A A Eto which the law entitles I w U l i %u25a0 N V w i w l Eyou. Expert consultation and preparation T A Ymeans big savings to you. I M AColl fo r on appointm ent:LEONARD WALIT 65 BOND ST ( at Slate Si.) BROOKLYN. 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