A Bunch of Amateurs

This is a very entertaining play.  The storyline concerns an amateur theatre group at risk of losing the barn which is both their rehearsal room and the theatre in which they perform.  A decision is made to attract a high profile actor for their Shakespeare production of King Lear and this will save the day!  Jefferson Steel arrives,  but although he has a  massive ego he is not the high profile actor they were expecting but an actor well past his sell by date!  The Stratford he arrives at is not the place of Shakespeare's birth but a small village in Suffolk.  The plot is funny and fast-moving and Salterton Drama Club made the most of the many opportunities for humour.

 The characters come from very varied backgrounds and their personalities are so different but they are joined together by the hobby of amateur theatre.  Much like any drama group with which we are involved. This play had been well cast and the actors gave realism and depth to the person they were portraying.   It was interesting to watch the journey the characters took as their relationships and the situation they were in changed.  Both Jefferson Steel and his daughter, Jessica Steel, were American and their accents were maintained well without any loss of clarity.  Indeed the diction of all the actors was excellent making it easy for the audience to follow the story.

I have wondered whether this play had been firstly written for television because the numerous scene changes which also involve costume changes make staging it a headache.  To partly cover these a jester, in the most splendid costume, would appear and speak a few lines from Shakespeare. The audience loved this and possibly adding a little dance or a moment or two of juggling would have fully covered this time.  Towards the end of the play, he appeared doing just that much to the merriment of the audience.

The set was most interesting and designed in a way that simplified the many changes of scene. It was quickly changed to both the dining room/kitchen of Mary Plunkett and also the bedroom where the "misunderstood massage" takes place.  Jefferson's escape route up the ladder and through a high window was great fun.  

The many costumes had been thoughtfully chosen to demonstrate the very varied characters.  Possibly the dressers should also have taken a bow, for their hard work and planning kept those gaps between scenes to a minimum.

The stage at the Playhouse is on the flat and when some of the action, including some very moving moments, took place on the floor it proved very difficult to see what was happening.  Perhaps if this had been set further up stage it might have helped.  Sightlines are so different when the auditorium is full.  Brush Up Your Shakespeare was a perfect choice of music and helped to set the mood for the evening.

This had been directed by a lady with much theatrical experience both on stage and as a director.  Most of the cast had years of good theatrical experience behind them but one of the actors was on stage for the first time.  It is a credit to both the director and also the actor concerned that in no way was this apparent.  This was a well-written play performed to a high standard.  An excellent evening's entertainment

 

 

 

© NODA CIO. All rights reserved.