There are plenty of words in John Mortimer's two one-act plays, "What Shall We Tell Caroline?" and "The Dock Brief," But they do not really signify enough.

"What Shall We Tell Caroline?" is one of those allusive and elusive plays in which Mr. Mortimer is dealing with the ineffectualness of human beings in relationship to each other, with that troubling problem of communication. A little song toward the end of the play with the line, to the effect that we are birds in the wilderness gives the clue to what the playwright is trying to say. No one on the stage truly speaks to the others.

Arthur Loudon, a stodgy headmaster, is deeply in love with his wife, but finds it impossible to say so. Instead of endearments he snorts and bellows in his conversations with her. Tony Peters only pretends to be fond of Mrs. Loudon, yet, nevertheless, in feigning affection provides her with the tonic her husband cannot give. None of the adults has any way of communicating with 18-year-old Caroline. What shall they really tell her of life and human beings?

All this Mr. Mortimer wraps in a mixture of real and stream-of-consciousness dialogue. Not all that is spoken between his characters is actually heard by them. A good bit of it is interior reaction to situations. The mixture is not always easy to fathom and one has to dig hard for meaning. It is questionable whether the effort is worth the trouble.

In "The Dock Brief" Mr. Mortimer starts off with a touching notion—an old, unsuccessful barrister gets his first chance to defend a criminal. He hobbles into the man's cell aglow with dreams of glory. At last he will have his chance to rise in court, confound the judge, tear at the heart strings of his client he plays out the different approaches he will use, how he will summon different witnesses and deliver the crucial bit of surprise evidence that will turn an open-and-shut case into victory and liberation.

But Mr. Mortimer does not know when to turn off the word-spigot. Although there is humor and sadness of vain dreams in this play, they are inundated. A listener must fight to ward off the stupefication….

"The Dock Brief" has been done with reported success in other cities abroad. It would be interesting to know how that was accomplished.