4 Play

This wonderfully varied selection of four one-act plays showcased the talents of fourteen actors and four different directors, demonstrating that TAB is not just alive and well but thriving after 30 years of entertaining local people. TAB is even branching out into studio theatre with two short love plays to be performed at The Reading Rooms in the village. Judging from the size and applause of the second-night audience there is more than enough appetite for the high quality output that TAB continues to generate and the one act format certainly provides something for everyone. 
In By the Half allowed Sara Nower to deliver a masterclass in Standard English with her wonderfully characterized retired actress, Madam, keeping the real world on the other side of the footlights by continuing to play the eccentric actress at home. Even her long-standing dresser/maid and her GP don’t realize the extent of the make-believe. Only at her weekly acting class with young Sylvia does she cross the fourth wall and step out of character; until the return of her daughter with news of her terminal illness. For a few minutes she becomes a mother, reluctantly it seems since this is one role, together with that of wife, with which she is less than comfortable. 
Joining The Club was a gritty and witty fast-paced two hander that forced high-flying wife and newly jobless husband to contemplate life with a baby and no job. Ostensibly a comedy this play was bittersweet in as much as it would resonate with many young couples weighing up the pros and cons of having children in an age of austerity. 
The Edge was a suspense play, with Roger Saddington as successful broker Marcus alternately moving between the office of his psychiatrist and that of his work. Knowing that he is running out of time but not knowing why,the tension builds as we discover that Marcus is in therapy and the time limit is of his own making. The final scene with Marcus and Paul in separate spotlights building up to the climactic ending was a classic piece of theatre. 
Finally Visitors from Chicago was an All-American treat set in a hotel bedroom in Los Angeles. The two couples involved were returning from a tennis match that had ended with a twisted ankle. The very physical performances that followed, involving grown men fighting, commando crawling across the floor, cut fingers, bruised nether regions and general mayhem on and around the double bed provided an hilarious finale to a great evening of entertainment. 
The sets were necessarily sparse but the quality of the acting and the choice of plays showed that sets can be superfluous once we get the idea. Sound and lighting was spot on and this reviewer, like most of the audience, had a great evening.
Happy Anniversary TAB.

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