3 Plays on the affairs of husbands and wives

Leighton Buzzard Drama Group have the use of the superb Library Theatre in the centre of town, as good as you will find in any provincial town - or at least they did! Then a couple of months ago Central Beds Council told them for reasons of staff shortage and those dreaded words ‘Health & Safety’ they could no longer perform there for at least the next three shows. So it was that we found ourselves at the nearby Linslade School in what was actually a rather well adapted, intimate, studio style theatre, but of course with a greatly reduced capacity. And not with a single play, but with the intriguing prospect of three plays for our delectation. What an excellent evening’s entertainment it turned out to be in the hands of Director Carl Russell. A man perfectly suited to such dramatic change of circumstance and where you definitely need someone to think outside the box, despite, in his own words in the programme, ‘being on a downward trajectory’ with regards to NODA awards.

The set by Archie Gemmill which ran the entire length of the studio with the audience on tiered seated to either side was simplicity itself and, with a little reset at the interval served all three plays perfectly. It consisted of a 2-seater sofa one end and two comfortable armchairs, with a table between them at the other end. In the middle was an oval table upon which any props, sourced by Ann Kempster and Jan Delamore could be placed. And under the auspices of producer and stage manager Mike Ward it all went like clockwork. Almost perfect, though I did occasionally think the action was sometimes spread over a wider area that necessary because the furniture was placed so far apart.

The first two plays are costume dramas and some very appropriate 19th and early 20th century attire was sourced by Sheena Ward, with Ann Kempster and Jan Delamore doing the same thing in the props department. Very impressive as usual ladies.

As I’ve always admitted I’m not a backstage person, so when it comes to such things as light and sound I really only notice when things don’t work and, as I never gave either a second thought I can only say that once again Dave Miles and Tom Davis did a an excellent job on both. Having said that, the mobile phone calls received at various stage of the action were particularly impressive, coming in absolutely spot on cue! I wish mine worked as well in real life!

The first play was an old Anton Chekhov classic short story, The Proposal about two neighbouring wealthy landowners, Stepan Chubokov, and Ivan Lomov, who seeks the hand of Chubokov's daughter, Natalya. The trouble is the conversation quickly descends into farce as the two men are side-tracked into an argument over a land dispute between them. Then Natalia joins in on her father’s side until, after Lomov has stormed off her father tells her the true nature of Lomov’s visit and she demands her father call him back immediately. Where guess what, the argument almost immediately resurfaces. In the hands of the experienced John Stone (Chubokov), Mark Croft (Lomov) and Lauren Walters (Natalia) this was very funny indeed. Mark Croft, who is of a tall lanky frame and who’s character went into heart palpitations during each twist and turn of the conversation spent long periods in a brilliant pose at almost forty-five degrees leaning on the table to hilarious effect, and the expression on Lauren Walter’s face when she discovered the true nature of Lomov’s visit was absolutely priceless. A good opener!

Now the second play was certainly in the Carl Russell ‘think out of the box’ mode. Where he finds these from I’d love to know? Overtones by Alice Gertsenberg is set in the early 20th century where two ladies, Harriet, played by Lucy Dudley and Margaret, played by Emma Brown are having tea together. They are discussing in a poised and cultured fashion the issues of polite society. Meanwhile their alter egos, Maggie played by Lorna Daggett and Hettie, played by Caroline Page are saying what they are really thinking. A very clever piece indeed. The key to this were the restrained expressions of two society ladies, abiding by the rules of polite society and obviously not meaning a word of it, whilst Maggie and Hettie did not hold back at all, superbly written, sublimely portrayed by the four actresses. Loved it!  

Now we come to the big one. The Argument by William Boyd brings us right up to date with a play first performed in 2016, which explores the different ways in which we argue and hurt each other. A strange piece of theatre in a way, as at 75 minutes its not quite long enough to fill an evening’s entertainment. Thus, the inclusion of the other two plays. However, it is certainly food for thought as what starts out as a silly argument between a married couple, Pip, played by newcomer Lewis May, a definite talent for future production, and Meredith, played by Emma Brown, over a film quickly becomes bitter. It ends up undermining their trust in one another and threatening their marriage, when he admits to an affair with a work colleague, and he leaves.  There then follows a series of scenes where each of them in turn individually discusses in various ways the circumstances of their broken marriage with two friends, Jane (Lauren Waters) and Tony (Mark Croft) and her parents, Frank played by Tony White and Chloe played by Jan Delamore. They of course all have their own issues, especially Frank who is a retired Surgeon and raving alcoholic. I lost count of the number of times Tony White refilled his glass but it appeared to be at one point on almost every speech, but he never actually appeared drunk at any time..?. All the actors in this were extremely good, but I have to say the self-righteous, over confident way in which Emma Brown portrayed Meredith had me thinking, this is too one sided and has to have a twist at some point and (spoiler alert) sure enough the ending was of course pure hypocrisy, involving a local poet who turned out to be slightly more than just a friend. Very well done all round.

So well done to LBDG for picking up the pieces after being kicked out of their usual venue and producing a very thought provoking, funny and entertaining evening. Whether or not it arrests the downward trajectory of the NODA awards career of Carl Russell will however have to wait until the New Year!

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