The Confidential Clerk by T. S. Eliot
First performance August 25, 1953
at the Edinburgh Festival
Mistaken identity is the nuts in
this post-war period piece. There is no actual rollicking involved, but there
is some very English romping going on. The very business-like Sir Claude
Mulhammer thinks that Colby Simpkins is his long-estranged son, and tries to
sneak him into the house as his "confidential clerk" in hopes that
the very eccentric Lady Mulhammer will decide to "adopt" him. Yes,
and it gets wackier and it gets more sobering as multiple parent-child
identities are revealed or hinted at….
I won't spoil the ending. This is
light stuff, mais un divertissement….one sympathizes with most of the
characters because they're, well, needy, and they try to help each other, and
there's no schlock….
It's a very genteel tragedy.
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