Unitarian Universalist Church of Palo Alto

Philip's Commentary On

The Pleasure of His Company
by Samuel Taylor
with Cornelian Otis Skinner

 

POGO

SAVAGE:; You brought her up to know how to live in this lunch-on-Monday, tea-on-Tuesday world of  yours, and the measure of  your success is that she is now well trained and equipped to be the mate of a wealthy breeder of bulls.

KATE: Father – Jessica has fallen in love.  This sort of thing happens every day.  Boys and girls fall in love, and it is announced in the papers, and families gather, and presents are sent, and then they marry and (God willing) live happily ever after.

SAVAGE: Don’t put the responsibility on God.  He didn’t ask for it.

• When: Monday, December 10, at  7 pm (only reading!)
• Where:  Room 9
• What:THE PLEASURE OF HIS COMPANY
  by  SAMUEL TAYLOR with  CORNELIA OTIS SKINNER
• Who: UUCPA Thespians
• Why: To relax for the holidays with  “a rueful comedy.”

JESSICA POOLE (twenty-one - fresh out of the egg and not quite formed - bright and gay and open – and uncertain) is just days away from her wedding.  Her mother, KATE DOUGHERTY (in her forties, handsome - a woman of formidable energy and executive power, yet feminine) and step-father  JIM DOUGHERTY (stocky, good-humored - nearing fifty, quiet and assured) thoroughly approve of her fiancé, ROGER HENDERSON (calm, soft-spoken, slow in his movements, with the sureness and grace that come of living an outdoor life and of doing his job well).  As might be inferred from the dialog above, Kate’s father MACKENZIE SAVAGE (lived long and seen many things and is surprised by nothing) has a different opinion.

The play opens with TOY (an elderly Chinese houseboy - wrinkled, starched, and bland) opening the door to Jessica’s father POGO POOLE (late forties - completely conscious of his charm - uses it flagrantly) who hadn’t been seen since Kate had divorced him when Jessica was three years old.  Pogo’s appearance has quite an effect on this tranquil pre-nuptial scene. 

By the end of Act I we are wondering about the stability of all the established relationships: engagement (Jessica and Roger), marriage (Kate and Jim), mother-daughter, father-daughter (both Pogo-Jessica and Makenzie-Kate), and servant-employer (Toy-Daugherty). It’s all done with great taste without the slightest hint of incest.  And the ending leaves us, the readers, happy even if not quite all of the characters feel that way.

There are 7 characters and we are only reading this play once.  But we’ll split role assignments between the acts as necessary so that everyone gets a chance to read.  Make a reservation (email thespians-info@uucpa.org or call me) or just show up at seven o’clock prompt on December 10.

Philip Hodge, Chair.