Finally: variance.

Mrs. Lovely is not unlike many of the female characters we have seen before. She has her own head, which she is not allowed to follow, and is very emotional and for obvious reasons dissatisfied with her situation in life. Who wouldn’t be. After all, her father has loved her enough to leave her to be passed from one “caring” guardian to the next. She is expected to adapt and change her identity every three months. Yes, she’s angry. But she also complies. Therefore she isn’t much different from the other women we’ve met.

Colonel Fainwell is new as a type. In a few of those other plays there were men who know from the very beginning that they are in love with a woman; and they go far in order to get her. But none of them is as eager and inventive as Fainwell. Last week the issue came up whether he was the most–or even the only eligible man we’ve read about. Of course he is. What woman would not be flattered by his maneuvers. BUT. How realistic, how mature is it to go through all this trouble for a woman that you barely know? Granted, in this he doesn’t differ much from all the other honest men in the plays. My point exactly. And let’s face it: if Anne Lovely’s condition wasn’t so desperate and she wasn’t dying to get out, wouldn’t she wonder about his sanity? I would. Maybe I’m just not romantic enough.

What makes this play so refreshing is the physical comedy. I loved the trapdoor scene and could just picture Periwinkle staring at the girdle in awe. Although I appreciate the wit in the other plays, sometimes there was just so much wit that I didn’t understand what was going on in the play. “A Bold Stroke” is just a very straightforward comedy in most of its parts. Although I think that what is being made of, i.e. the commercial aspect of marriage during the time, is much more realistic than the story of the play. Then again: Who cares as long as it’s fun?!