4 Plays and an Interval

The Bear Pit Theatre Stratford was an ideal venue for 4 quite different but absorbing one act plays, staged by this talented group. Each had a simple but effective set. Prior to each play and during the interval we were entertained by Debbie Robinson who sang a selection of songs which were a delight.

The opening play “Dancers” was a conversation between two ladies ‘Wynn’ and ‘Betty’ following their regular afternoon tea dance and amusingly described their plight, in the hope that one day sufficient men might turn up to partner them.  ‘Wynn’ and ‘Betty’ knew each other long enough to point out each other’s faults and Fiona Robson and Linda Burridge moved the scene along at a good pace.

“Tits, Cigs and Zips” was set at the airport departure gate where 7 would be travellers faced repeated delays in their flight. 4 different relationship scenarios were depicted;  a wife whose husband had wandering eyes, a business girl going on holiday but could not leave her laptop or phone behind, a backpacker trying to befriend  a reluctant stranger who had her own problems and a pair of friends on a mission one highly stressed whilst the other was relaxed and calm. Add to that the ever smiling check-in attendant (despite the bad flight news); each gave a polished and real performance. There were moments when I felt the animated mime in one area of the stage slightly interrupted my concentration, but this was a well constructed play by Andi Hardy. Next time I sit in the airport lounge I will be wondering what stories lie behind the relationships of those around me!

“A Nice cup of Tea” depicted the return of ‘Harold’ from his company’s Health & Safety Course, fired up to warn his long suffering wife ‘Marion’ of the dangers of making a cup of tea! His demeanour quite clearly struck a chord with the audience. The interaction between the players (Fiona Robson and Graham Robson) was at times hilarious and justified the warning in the programme to any discerning wife “to try and resist the temptation to throttle the husband”.

Finally “Brummagem Pals” depicted the meeting of three first-world war veterans, recalling one of the blackest periods of world war history.  ‘Harry’, ‘Bill’ and ‘Tommy’ (Philip Hickson, Roger Gowland and Graham Robson respectively) were an excellent team in their story telling and recollection of poems and songs from the trenches. They also captured some very moving moments.

It was good to see everyone return to the stage for a final song including the back stage team, to round off a great evening’s entertainment.

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