A Bunch of Amateurs

The story of “A Bunch of Amateurs” centres around a fading Hollywood actor Jefferson Steel who arrives in England expecting to play the role of King Lear at Stratford only to find out that his agent has booked him to play with an amateur company in the Suffolk village of Stratford St John. What follows is a hilarious and at times emotional look at how the actor’s outrageous demands are compromised and how he finally finds his inner “Lear”.

Jean Ord played Mary, a star struck but passionate participant in the “am dram” who gave a terrific speech about why we all take part. Malcolm Quinn portrayed the pompous Nigel, whose resentment to Jefferson getting the lead role was apparent in every scene. As Jefferson’s’ feisty daughter Jessica, Lucy McCabe, was natural and convincing in her portrayal of the only person who knew the real Jefferson. Corporate sponsor Lauren was portrayed by Annette Morris who showed her character’s different “skills” very well and her misinterpreted physiotherapy scene was very funny. The down to earth character of Dennis, the odd job man who cast himself as Jefferson’s entourage as well as Gloucester, was played to great effect by Jonathan Jones. His delivery was genuine and his suggestions for portraying the scene where Gloucester’s eyes are gouged out were hilarious. Lynn Carss gave a very strong performance as Dorothy the lynch pin of the Stratford players, the director and driver as well as playing “The Fool”, and she had excellent rapport with Lee Passmoor as Jefferson who commanded the stage from the moment he entered. Lee showed great contrast in the character from his arrogance of the Hollywood superstar to the tenderness of a father and his delivery of King Lear’s speech was very powerful. 

Good use was made of the limited performance space in order to portray the large number of different scenes.

Congratulations to everyone for a very enjoyable evening’s entertainment.

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