3 One Act Plays

This was a really varied evening of entertainment with 3 very different one act plays which were funny and also poignant. Quite a challenge for Lee to direct three very different pieces and many different characters but he did a great job culminating in a very enjoyable evening’s entertainment. It was a perfect way to give more members an opportunity to take lead roles in their respective plays. The lighting was appropriate for each play, sound effects were good throughout and the sets changed to support each story.

Sharks in the Custard

This play looks at the thoughts and lives of the cleaning ladies in a municipal art gallery and their plan to save their jobs and the place in which they love to work. The set for this was well put together with some very eye catching works of art surrounding the cast, these were really well painted and constructed and perfect for the piece. The main characters of Liz played by Susan Haswell and Vera played by Jean Ord were a perfect double act. Their conversation was natural and believable and as much of the play was a two hander between these characters they carried it extremely well, well done ladies. Their colleague Mary was played by Lynne Carrs, Lynne can always be relied upon to portray a strong character and this was no exception, another super performance. Gary Blackbird as Brian the boss gave us the character you love to hate with a wig to match, Annette Morris and Alex Morris as the museum visitors and Pauline Wright as the cleaner gave good support in their cameo roles. This was a funny play which I very much enjoyed.

Jumpers

Having seen this play before I knew about the twist in the tail but this didn’t detract from the performance at all. The character portrayals throughout were very good. We met David the potential jumper played by Pete Wright. Pete worked hard at getting over the emotion of this character and the conflicted feelings he had about his decision to take his life, not an easy part to play and he did really well. David had three visitors on the bridge whose mission was to make him think about the consequences of his actions, these included Stan a Police officer played by Alan Oliver. Alan gave a good portrayal of this matter of fact character who was on the bridge for his lunch, or was he? His second visitor was a doctor, Samantha, played by Pauline Wright. Pauline gave a tender portrayal of this character who had reasons of her own for being very sad but tried to convince David to rethink his actions. Dave’s final visitor was an angry man, furious about being held up in the traffic whilst on his way to a meeting. Lee Passmoor was very convincing in this role, his anger was tangible turning into a genuine joy at the conversation development. Gary Blackbird gave another solid performance as the construction worker John who kept interspersing the conversations with his down to earth practicalities of the situation. I won’t give away any spoilers but David soon realises the significance of his visitors. This play covers a difficult subject matter with poignancy and also a touch of comedy. I must mention the set, a section of the Tyne Bridge was recreated which looked great and the positioning right on the edge of the stage gave added jeopardy.

Last Tango in Little Grimley

This play takes us to a meeting of the local amateur drama society whose membership has dwindled to four. The action takes place mainly around a table and then into the rehearsal stages for their next production. Malcolm Quinn gave us Gordon, the chair of the society, trying to think outside the box for ways to increase their audience attendance. Malcolm gave a convincing portrayal based on some personal experience I’m sure! Grahame Foster played Bernard, the stage manager being coerced into performing, he had some very funny comebacks and Grahame is the king of the hilarious facial expression. As Joyce, Annette Morris gave us the member who has more enthusiasm that acting ability! Her keenness to do “Seven Brides for Seven Brothers” with a cast of 4 was very funny as was her hand waving in the angry scene of their rehearsal, another assured performance. The last committee member was Margaret played by Jan Foster. Jan gave us all the airs and graces of the society prima donna who demands the starring role and there was good sparing tension with Gordon and putting down of Bernard and Joyce, the scene rehearing with Joyce was very funny.  

Well done to Lee and the team for an enjoyable evening and good to see you getting so much support audience wise. It was touching to see the group dedicating their performance to the memory of their member Clive Lancaster who was due to perform in the production, I’m sure he would have been very proud of you all.

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