A Bunch of Amateurs

Sometimes in this position I feel like a broken record when commending a society or a person for doing something that they do so well. Every. Single. Time. Well, this review is no exception. DODS invite us in with a warm welcome and a glimmer in their eyes saying, “welcome back, we’ve missed you”. But this isn’t just for me, but for every single member of the audience, and for the people of Dursley and surrounding areas I have one message for you. If you’re not at the Lister Hall, why not. There is no excuse because nowhere else give you such a warm welcome.

So, before we move onto the show itself, it is only correct to talk about how hard the whole team have worked to get this show up on its feet and to the stage. It is very saddening to hear of the passing of Mike Graham. The production has had 3 stage managers in its production, and Mike was the second involved up until the time of his passing. With an amazing dedication on the rear of the programme, it is clear that the society, its members and its audience will truly miss an exceptional talent. Rest well Mike, you’ll truly be missed.

Moving on to the performance, we were greeted by a simplistic set design with the “barn” as the central stage area, the B&B on the stage left extension and an area with a bed on the stage right extension. The use of levels has always been a strong point with DODS as you are very lucky with your theatres layout, and “A Bunch of Amateurs” has been exactly the same as the lower was like the “audiences” seating area. Plus, doing a play within a play is quite a tricky one, but doing a Shakespeare play within a play is an extra level of difficulty, but done really well.

I do have a general note for future reference. I have found with comedy plays in the past that the phrase “less is more” is rather useful. I mean this for specific acting choices, where the writer has put a comedic line in a scene and perhaps an actor has taken the line in a different direction with their intonation. On occasion in the play I found that some actors bounced off of the audiences reaction from time to time. Perhaps the audience has found a comedic line hilarious, then the actor thought that they need to “ham up” another line or perhaps they may need to gain more laughs by doing more, but I would be wary of this as the writer has written it in a realistic way so that the line is funny through regular speech rather than heightened speech.

Moving onto the actors, Dorothy Nettle was firmly grounded in their character. Giving a great gravatas to the play and to the fictional theatre group as a whole, Dorothy is the driving force of the company and the same goes for the play. They are very similar to other directors I have had in my acting life and even myself at some points, feeling like I really need to hold off from shouting at the actors when they haven’t learnt their lines! Dorothy also gave some good comedic moments but because the character was the base of the play and the most grounded their lines were a lot of the plot so it left little room for comedic lines. Nonetheless, great job!

Nigel Dewbury was very a very typical and “normal” amateur dramatics society member (in my opinion). Causing a scene, spreading rumours and generally feeling they were above everybody else. Unfortunately I know quite a few Nigel’s, but this is not a negative for the actor, in fact, quite the opposite. Very well done.

Mary Plunkett & Dennis Dobbins were the comedy standouts for me during this production. Both of them were incredibly funny from the start and just progressed as the play went by. I scribbled down a few of my favourite lines but I couldn’t take my eyes off of you so they don’t make any sense. Dennis was more grounded in their character, they gave a brilliant somerset accent and a great bromance with Jefferson, and the same goes for Mary with her northern accent and hilarious “relationship” with Jefferson as well.

Ahhh, Jefferson Steel, the stereotypical American actor with the west coast accent and swagger like they own the room, you were the non-typical villain of the show. And along with your onstage daughter Jessica Steel, you both grew through the show, and by the end Jessica had you showing much more humility and progression from the grumpy, disgruntled and rude American at the beginning. Jessica, you are a very talented young actor, being able to bring your onstage father back to earth and getting him to show emotion to his daughter is a big deal, so well done! Both of you did a great job and should be very happy.

The Fool/David & Lauren Bell were fantastic supporting roles and they were used very well throughout the piece. The musical interludes from the fool during scene changes were very effective and added a great uplift that the play needed in those slower sections. Whereas Lauren Bell, you may have been in a couple of scenes but WOW you were funny in those sections especially the last line of Act 1. I howled at that line! 

Overall, ‘A bunch of Amateurs’ was performed by the very opposite and you have produced a very successful show within a show. Yes, there have been ups and downs, but in the end it worked out, and how wonderful it was. Congratulations!

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