Date seen: 15 March 2012
Venue: Compass theatre, Ickenham. I really liked it. Modern with a bar and coffee area. The box office was well run, the staff were friendly and there was a generally comfortable atmosphere. Lots of well-tiered seating and a large stage.
Costumes: All good. Nothing seemed out of place. I particularly liked Nick's superman T-shirt and the assorted nightwear.
Plot: Delian and Ernest are celebrating an anniversary. Nick stays at home, bemoaning his lot and his bad back, whilst Jan heads off to Malcolm and Kate's housewarming party and Sussanah and Trevor effortlessly sabotage everyone's plans. Four couples, three bedrooms, one eventful night.
Perfromances:
Ernest (David Pearson) - Very nicely judged with terrific comic timing. His chemistry with Delia was a delight.
Delia (Susi Thornton) - What a lovely face! This was an absolutely charming performance full of warmth and humour. All her mannerisms and business with make-up was terrific. Shame she had one scene in act 2 where she lost the lines as it put a slight dampener on an otherwise terrific characterisation.
Nick (Robert Ewen) - I couldn't get over how like Phil Jupitus he looked with his glasses on. I loved the glasses on the teddy bear. Some terrific facial expression used. The fall out of bed scene would have been more effective if we hadn't had to spend two minutes watching him crawl across the stage.
Jan (Hannah Lester) - Quite strong. Very confident and the scene where she was trapped beneath Nick was very funny.
Malcolm (Paul Davis) - Couldn't really make my mind up about him. Some lovely business with coats and the cabinet. I wasn't sure he entirely got the playful nature with Kate at the beginning of the play.
Kate (Angie Sutherland) - Delightful! Always trying to please and be a good hostess. Some nice, gentle comedy.
Trevor (Ben Morris) - At times, spot on and very funny. But I think he tried too hard which made the character less believable. The bit in his opening scene about a pressure weighing down on him was way over the top which meant it ended up not being funny. Comedy/farce has to be played as tragedy and if an actor corpses at a scene, however funny it is, it loses its impact and sadly that's what happened with an otherwise priceless moment with the cabinet.
Sussanah (Clare Wooster) - I really enjoyed this performance. Every so slightly bonkers, this actress had a lovely, strong voice and found some lovely natural positions sitting on various beds. I liked the slight hippiness about her as well.
Summary: At times, the pace slackened off which meant a lot of the comedy was lost. A great set though with some very effective props. Despite the few critiscisms, the audience really enjoyed it and I would love to make a return visit to this delightful little theatre and hard-working company.
No comments:
Post a Comment