Neighbourhood watch - Tricycle theatre

Date seen: 27 April 2012

Venue: Tricycle theatre. Lovely cafe area which is communal to the building. I didn't particularly like the auitorium itself. Very cramped and had scaffolding poles as part of its structure which kind of got in the way at times.

Set: Extremely basic with just seating and a fireplace. Although easy to tour with, it was too basic for me.

Costumes: Amy's costumes verged on the indecent, the security style jumpers were amusing, all the other costumes were fine.

Plot: The plot revolves around a Neighbourhood Watch group. A brother and sister move into an estate of private houses, are instilled with irrational fear about the council estate at the bottom of the garden, and set up a neighbourhood watch group. They only attract a committee of six, but it grows and develops into a gated community, complete with a Punishment Committee, public stocks and a private army of thugs (dad and two sons) who they can’t control.

Performances:  Dorothy (Eileen Battye) - Purely seemed to be there for comedy, nicely played though.
Rod (Terence Booth) - Very amusing early in the play, the part seemed to fade somewhat sadly.

Luther (Phil Cheadle) - Typical bad boy. A little cliched but still a strong portrayal.

Martin (Mathew Cottle) - Nicely played, but never came across as a home-wrecker (Which in reality he was), and I'm not sure I believed his ability to lead such a group.

Gareth (Richard Derrington) - Played as a stereotypical welshman. Funny  on occassion but the whole character was a little unoriginal.

Amy (Frances Grey)  - A real siren with legs that went on higher than I can see. Very sexy.

Magda (Amy Loughton) - An intelligent, vunerable and likeable performance.

Hilda (Alexandra Mathie) - A complex character with a delightful giggle and amusing little habbits. Showed a real strength as things progressed and had a few surprises up her sleave. Vry strong leading performance.

Summary: Well acted all round. My problem is that I never for one moment believed the storyline. I'm not sure if it was the basic set that did it as it never gave the impression of a house needing protection or just the plain silly direction that the story went in. I look forward to seeing what amateur groups do with this piece.

Ten times table - Hoddesdon players

Date seen: 20 April 2012

Venue: Very good. Large seating area with a well run bar. The auditorium is large with tiered seating and another few rows of free standing seating near the stage.

Set: Fairly simple but perfect for the play. The small stage at the back with the piano was good and both exits were well used.

Costumes: For the committee meetings they were unremarkable but fine. The John Cockle T-shirts were very bright and nicely designed. The costumes for the pageant were all brilliant.

Plot: Set in the ballroom of the dilapidated Swan Hotel, a group of local members of the Pendon community are brought together to organise a town pageant based on a lost piece of local history, the massacre of the Pendon Twelve – where the Earl of Dorset crushed an uprising of rebellious workers, led by John Cockle. The committee comprises disparate characters with very different views of what the pageant should be and what it represents.

As the meetings progress, the group becomes ideologically divided with the left-wing side, led by a Marxist Polytechnic teacher, building it up as a political rally. The right-wing side of the committee formulating plans for a violent confrontation in response.

Performances: Ray (Mike Marsh) - Had a Richard Wilson like pained expression, but was very amusing and played the part well.

Donald (Malcolm Trayhorn) - Superb, perfectly nerdish and irritating.

Helen (Christine Holt) - Make-up was a bit in your face, but she played the part well and was particularly funny in her last scene

Sophie (Suzanne Austin) - Attractively played and worked ever so hard especially when she wasn't actively engaged in dialogue.

Eric (Chris Whalley) - Surly and a deeply unpleasant character. Well portrayed though with just the right level of controlled fanaticism.

Audrey (Mary Newton) - Stole every scene she was in. Dream of a part for an actress of mature years. Absolutely hilarious.

Lawrence (Rob Ash) - It's so hard to play being drink believably. He certainly pulled it off and one round of applause after a long speech was well deserved.

Tim (Stephen Brody) - More effective when he played the captain rather than just Tim. Because of the way this actor speaks, he needed to slow the dialogue down. A lot of it merged into a a string of words that were difficult to make-out.

Philippa (Jurgita Baleviciute) - Delightful in her opening scene. She spoke so quietly that it was difficult to make out anything she said in act 2 due to the piano playing.

Max (Simon Tipple) - Very small part, perfect for a beginner.

Summary: There was a terrible masking issue in scene one of the opening act that lasted for between 5-10 minutes. A few scenes could have been tightened but overall, I thoroughly enjoyed it and laughed out loud on many occasions. A  huge amount of effort had been put in and I certainly hope to see more Ayckbourn's from this company in the future.

How the other half loves - Mill at Sonning

Date seen: 13 April 2012

Venue: The Mill at Sonning - My favourite theatre! It's actually a dinner theatre. You have a meal before the show in their excellent diing area with incredibly friendly staff, pudding and coffee and then you go into the theatre. this is set in the round and has excellent, well-tiered views down to the open set.

Costumes: Set in the 1970's and everything was right for this perios without being too obvious.

Plot: Two of the characters have had an affair, a one-night fling, and another character suspects the truth. A fourth has no clue, but has a sense of something changed in the general atmosphere. Two others, innocents in it all, become caught up in the plot and add the elements of misunderstanding and misrepresentation.

Performances: Frank Foster (John Arthur) - Superbly dead-pan. I can't remember the last time a performance made me laugh this much Utterly top-notch.

Fiona Foster (Karen Ascoe) - Probably the least fun of the six parts to play, but she played it very well and was a nice foil to Frank with good comic timing.

Bob Phillips (Neil Andrew) - Deeply unpleasant as a character but that's what required from the part. Was spot on and he reminded me a bit of Mr Bannister from 'Are you being served' with the facial expressions.

Teresa Phillips (Penelope Rawlins) - Played this as verging on the edge of unbalanced or post-natal depression. Great energy drove this partnership along.

William Featherstone (Harry Gostelow) - At times seemed timid and then seemed potentially violent. A complex character but extremely watchable.

Mary Featherstone (Alison Pettitt) - Tremendous! Wonderful facial expressions from the put-upon, yet strong willed Mary. Just delightful!

Summary: A bit of a rush after work on Friday but the delightful setting, best meal we've ever had there and then the highest quality show made this a memorable evening. The farcical timing was spot on and the sets and props were so clever. Brilliant show all round.

Living together - Cuffley players

Date seen: 29th March 2012

Venue: Cuffley Hall, Cuffley

Set: Extremely good. Fake books looked extremely convincing, had a real feeling of a genuine room with a lovely backdrop behind the French doors and well furnished.

Costumes: My only quibble is after changing for the evening, why did everyone change back to their original costumes for the next morning. Surely you would take a change of clothes if staying away? Otherwise, they were fine and I loved Norman's green, woolly hat.

Plot: This one begins on Saturday evening with Norman sulking because his trip has been canceled, Reg dealing with the bags - and the game he's invented that he's hoping to play - and Sarah marshaling everyone around. As the plays pile up the sense that anyone has control over anything really does deteriorate, because we see what's happening in the next room when character's aren't around we see how little effect individual's attempts to control the situation have.

Married relationships take the foreground in this play. Particularly Sarah and Reg's union - with her constantly running him down and bossing him - dismissing his attempts to get everyone to play his game with him - and his general acceptance of her command. This plays counter to Ruth and Norman's marriage which although Norman seems unable to stop himself from suggesting a roll on the carpet or a get-away to Bournemouth to every lady present has an honesty and bluntness that carries them - and by the end, carries them through. In a way.

Perfromances:

Sarah (Jenny Wood) - Not bad, but I felt her desire for a weekend away with Norman at the end came absolutelt from nowhere. Also was a bit too shrieky when she had a scene being angry.

Reg (Ivan Moody) - Tried really hard without ever seeming to get the audience to warm to him. He had some really nice moments.

Norman (Derek Parr) - Got Norman to an absolute T. Lecherous, onerous, but played the character with real skill.

Annie (Charlotte Acutt) - A lovely portrayal of  ac haracter fighting between her head and her heart. Had a much better chemistry with Tom than Norman and maybe that's what the character of Annie could never see?

Tom (Andrew Kent) - Terrific! Bumbling, inoffensive, gentle even when he was cross. This performance was such a delight and a much needed contrast to all the other characters.

Ruth (Sue Gooch)  -Only appears in act two. Solid enough and her scene with Norman on the carper was very amusing.

Summary: An unfortunate incident with a member of the audience blacking out occurred halfway through act one. A lot of concern and scurrying about with medical help being called meant that concentration was lost all around. In hindsight, I feel the tabs should have been pulled, but 'The show must go on' and it did. We were not a good audience from the start and the Cuffley players never got the early laughs that would have helped the production along. It all seemed to fall a bit flat, although I did actually thoroughly enjoy the show and I hope to get the opportunity to see more at this neat little venue.