People

By Sara C. Medina

One first-night critic politely pronounced that the lead achieved a "healthy mediocrity, as did the rest of the cast." Of course, there was nothing middling about security for the opening at Haddo House, a Scottish village hall not far from the royal summer retreat of Balmoral. The star of the show, don't you know, was Prince Edward, 22. Last summer, taking a minor role in an amateur production of The Taming of the Shrew, he disported himself so well -- and, not incidentally, sold out the hall every night -- that this year he was asked back to star in The Magistrate, a Victorian farce. Edward manfully summons up the sullen shallowness of a 19-year-old rogue being passed off as a 14-year-old schoolboy, then trips up, literally ; and figuratively, during a hilarious escape scene. Theatrical fate, though, can be cruel: a popular local comedian was packing them in last week in the same role at nearby Aberdeen. So seats to see the Prince of players were going begging.