84 Charing Cross Road

This was a real treat for me, as there are not that many societies these days who perform plays, and I was not disappointed.

84 Charing Cross Road is based on the life of Helene Hanff, a playwright from America, who bought books from a London based company, Marks & Co, corresponding with the firm’s manager for several years. The set was split into two, one side being Miss Hanff’s apartment and the other side the bookshop, it was cleverly designed, giving an excellent insight of where the characters were.

Denise Baker as Helene Hanff was very convincing, her accent never faltered throughout the performance. Frank Doel, for Marks & Co, played by Chris Stanley, was equally convincing, the biggest compliment I can pay them both is that at times I forgot that it was scripted, as I felt as though they were just having a conversation with the audience. Their timing and pace of delivery was outstanding, both with dialogue and movement around the set.  The characterisation made everyone feel as though we knew the people. Both spoke clearly and we never missed a word that was spoken.

They were well supported by Lucy Dufaye (Cecily Farr), Sarah Stanley (Megan Wells), Rob Lewis (George Martin) and Lewis Stanley (Bill Humphries).  Although they did not have a great deal of dialogue, their acting made up for it, constantly busying themselves in the  office and bookshop. The difficulty with a set like this when on stage, is the temptation is to glance at the person who is speaking at the time, however, I didn’t notice any of the actors casting a glance when they shouldn’t have been looking!

The props were very authentic, and changes being made as the years went by, kept the set real. The lighting plot was well designed with subtle changes that almost went unnoticed.

The characters were very well directed, and everyone knew where they should be at what time, again, some actions were very subtle but added to the whole production.

I must applaud everyone involved with the production, from front of house for their warm welcome, to everyone onstage and those involved behind the scenes, it really was a first-class production. Congratulations!

 

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