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JOHN J. O'CONNOR New York Times; March 13, 1983 [partial] 'On Approval'- A Delicious Period Piece [Maria Wislak] comes up with the very practical idea to "try out" for 30 days at her country home in Scotland, a man who has loved her from a distance for 20 years and now wants to marry her. Maria, a widow, was treated rather shabbily by her first husband and does not want to make another mistake. Fluffing her hair and powdering her nose, Maria presents her cohabitation plan - while commonplace now, scandalous then - with the assurance that "I love you and all that" but one can never be too sure. Her intended, overwhelmed by her wisdom, cries, "The courage of it!" |
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'Fluffing her hair and powdering her nose' | |
There are only four characters in the play. The first act opens at a formal dinner party in the home of Helen Hayle [Lindsay Duncan], who is 22, an orphan and one of the richest women in England. Her guests are Maria [Penelope Keith], Richard Halton [Benjamin Whitrow], the man in love with Maria, and George, Duke of Bristol [Jeremy Brett], loved by Helen but considered a brute by Maria because he is always making unflattering references to her age. Mr. Brett is a tot too long in the tooth for the part of the Duke, who is supposed to be a "hideous child," but he brings a flair and an assurance to the role that are eventually disarming. | |
"The courage of it!" |
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