A Chorus of Disapproval

Well done to RODS for putting on this play.  Whilst it is a play, it also has songs in it, so casting can be tricky.  This production was extremely well cast and congratulations to Director Lynne Bavin for, not only getting all the humour out of the script, but also for stepping in at very short notice to play one of the parts. The script displays all the clichés about AmDram societies and small communities and it was obvious that the cast had enjoyed the rehearsals as much as we enjoyed the performance.

The cast is quite large for a play, twelve main characters, but everyone gave good performances so it is difficult to select just a few to mention.  Therefore I am going to mention them all!   Firstly Director Lynne Bavin.  If I hadn’t read it in the programme I would not have been fully aware that Lynne only took this part on in the last couple of weeks.   The long speeches she had to deliver were discretely blocked so that she could refer to a script if need be.  Although it seemed to me that she had almost all the lines learnt.  Not an easy thing to do in such a short time.

Trevor Bavin played Dafydd ap Llewellyn perfectly, his welsh accent was spot on, without being over the top.  Dave Smith played the hapless Guy Jones well.  Karen Barton (Hannah Llewellyn) brought great emotion to the character. I liked the characterisation that Gemma Elsey gave to Bridget Baines. Maree Gaskin (Enid Washbrook) and Kevin Hayes (Ted Washbrook) made an excellent couple and I had instant sympathy for them. I particularly liked Martin Woods characterisation of Jarvis Huntley-Wood, a great accent and an excellent portrayal.

Christine Parker (Fay Hubbard) and Mike Robertson (Ian Hubbard) played the obligatory ‘swingers’ with nicely timed dialogue.   Roy Llewellyn (Crispin Usher) and Linzi Robertson (Linda Washbrook) completed the cast.

The set was very basic but effective, this venue has some very ‘noisy’ staging, but it wasn’t intrusive on this occasion as the action was placed in front of the house tabs for some of it.   There was one very long wait for a scene change but this was the opening night so that can be forgiven.

Overall, a very enjoyable evening’s entertainment, thank you again for your hospitality.

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