Richmond Theatre production. October 1950
Character: Willy Pentridge
The Story
The action of the play takes place in the Convent of Our Lady of Rheims; a French Nursing Order, at Denzil St David, and in a village some miles from Norwich, England. It’s 1947.
ACT I: The Great Hall of the Convent, around 6pm.
ACT II
- Scene 1: Sister Mary’s Room, two hours later
- Scene 2: The same, next evening
ACT III
- Scene 1: The same, next afternoon
- Scene 2: The Great Hall, three hours later
Willy Pentridge (Peter Wyngarde) is a Autistic man who is employed as an odd-job man at a convent.Although he’s considered an “idiot” by some of the more bigoted in the local village he is, in fact, very perceptive and not a stranger to the occasional wise word. Indeed, Nurse Brent says of him: “He knows more about the weather than normal people”, whilst Nurse Phillips declares: “I hate the horrible Willy prowling around!”
A murder of a young man takes place at the Convent, for which his sister- Sarat Carn, is accused, judged and sentenced to execution. Against the wishes of the Mother Superior, Sister Mary goes to see her and agrees to help with her appeal which, inexorably, fails.
The Sister inevitably pits her instinct concerning Sarat’s innocence contrary to the authority of the Mother Superior,who speculates that the Order might’ve lost the Sister spiritually: “For you matters are never simple or uncomplicated.”
Right: Peter as Willy Pentridge
To add to the woes of the assembled Order, news arrived that a dyke some miles away is in danger
of breaching, which would result in hundreds of people from the local area heading for the Convent which is built on higher ground.
Whilst Sarat is lead away to her execution, all the participants concerned with the issue of the murder charge gather in the Great Hall of the Convent. Here, Sister Mary and Willy converse about life and coincidence in an almost timeless manner, leading to her upholding that “for everything there is a season”. It’s soon after that the real murderer is revealed. of breaching, which would result in hundreds of people from the local area heading for the Convent which is built on higher ground.
Whilst Sarat is lead away to her execution, all the participants concerned with the issue of the murder charge gather in the Great Hall of the Convent. Here, Sister Mary and Willy converse about life and coincidence in an almost timeless manner, leading to her upholding that “for everything there is a season”. It’s soon after that the real murder is revealed.
Thanks to the investigations carried out by Sister Mary and her associate, Josephine, it’s learned that Jeffries’ – the doctor who’d attended Sarat’s brother and who, incidentally, acted as a witness for the for the prosecution at the young woman’s trial, might’ve been responsible for administering certain drugs to her brother.
| Notes: There is a lot of action that take place ‘off-stage’, such as Willy helping to restore the cottage of a local villager, and the actions of several named characters that are never seen by the audience – including a gentleman by the name of Jason Kingham(!), who is Sarat’s fiancé. The primary theme of the play appears to be the importance of the accepted over the judiciousness of power. This is fundamental to Sister Mary’s struggle with the Mother Superior and vital too, the positioning of Willy, the supposed moron, and the nurses that function on the basis of authority – especially Nurse Phillips who states that the “tolerance” of someone like Willy “undermines authority”. |
PETER WYNGARDE: The Official Website 
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