A Girl Next Door

It’s so good to see live theatre in full swing again and we all hope that this will be able to continue, whether amateur or professional.  All companies have been or are still having difficulties in arranging rehearsals so in view of the circumstances, this was a brave attempt.

Farce is a notoriously difficult part of the genre.  It requires speed and excellent timing so it was a pity that things were a little slow at the beginning of the piece due to quite a few prompts.  However, it did speed up and we were introduced to the characters who were all very well cast.

The set was well designed for all the goings on taking place in Tom’s & Graham’s flats and the fun ensued with mistaken identity and as the programme says, the appearance of some distinctly odd characters.

Tom (Mark Gurney) was all set for a peaceful morning when a knock at the door heralded Graham (John Walshe) from the flat next door who was hiding from his wife.  The rest of the characters, Lydia, Sophie, Russell, Karen and Susan were played by Emma Pierssene, Steffi Huxley, Andy Bennett, Sue Davies and Kirsti Bennett-Koster making the most of their characterisations.

The effect of Russell’s head appearing through the wall at one stage, due I believe to some misguided DIY by Lydia was very well done.

Shoes are always a great part of the costume to define a character and Karen’s red, glittery shoes (maybe borrowed from as production of The Wizard of Oz?!!) certainly added to Sue Davies’ performance as the man mad Karen who was intent on taking over her daughter’s boyfriend.

All in all, a good evening’s entertainment, raising many laughs from the audience which was worth all the hard work of everyone involved whether on stage or behind the scenes.

Although not mentioned in the programme, Geoff Baker directed as well as being part of the set construction team and designing the lighting.

Thanks once again to everyone at Haven for keeping theatre alive once again.

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