A Bunch of Amateurs

I have had the pleasure of visiting Langholm A&ODS on a number of occasions, and was more than pleased to return to watch this production. I am really impressed with the amount of talent they have amongst them and it was very pleasing to see different names and faces from my previous visits.

A Bunch of Amateurs tells the story of a fading Hollywood action hero, Jefferson Steele, who is keen to boost his flagging career, he arrives in England to play King Lear in Stratford only to find that this is not the birthplace of the Bard but a sleepy Suffolk village and the cast are a bunch of amateurs. Jefferson’s monstrous ego, vanity and insecurity are tested by the enthusiastic amateur thespians - who are not averse to a spot of ego, vanity, and insecurity themselves. However, the play may be called A Bunch of Amateurs, but Langholm performed with complete professionalism, every actor completely immersed in their own character.

Leslie Murray played the arrogant American very convincingly, and his transformation towards the end, where he reignited his relationship with his daughter was very humbling to watch. Nicole Weatherstone, who played the show director Dorothy, held the performance together extremely well, coming across very much at ease with her role of trying to please both Jefferson and the other members of the cast. Philip Bolt as Nigel, is the amateur equivalent to Jefferson, convinced that he should be the one playing King Lear, and leaves no-one in any doubt about how he feels. Jenny Pike was definitely a slightly crazy Mary, who obviously has an infatuation with the American, she combines this ‘affection’ with a great delivery of humorous lines, especially naming the wrong actor and film that she thinks Jefferson has performed in, giving the audience plenty to laugh at. Fiona Evans, gave a convincing performance as marketing director and physiotherapist Lauren, and I particularly enjoyed the massage scene, which was interrupted by Mary and sets off a whole chain of events. Handyman Denis, played by Michael Clarke, was someone else who was a big fan of the American, Mark showed great timing with the delivery of his lines, and I particularly enjoyed the gag of the eye-gouging, although another lesson on driving the mobility scooter would not go amiss!!!. Georgie Swale, played the part of Jessica, Jefferson’s daughter, and her feelings towards him were well displayed by Georgie, deep down there was always a love for him.

The quartet of newspaper reporters, Lou Adie, Maz Burgess, Pauline Burrows, and Cathie Gunn did their bit too when trying to catch Jefferson for their newspapers and his efforts to evade them was clever.

The set, as always, was well constructed and all scene changes happened smoothly, mainly in the darkness, without distracting from the action to follow. The Company have a very reliable and able technical team and they always provide effective props and effects,…excellent!

The play was very well directed by Judith Johnson in her own inimitable style with the cast presenting this very wordy script in such an effortless and natural style and was well received by everyone who watched this show.

Once again, I had a very entertaining evening and look forward to my next visit.

Congratulations everyone!

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