A Phoenix Night Rises

Phoenix Players’ latest production had its genesis in a couple of one-act plays that the group had written for and performed at a recent play festival.  Quite rightly not wanting to leave those plays at just a single performance, they formed the core of A Phoenix Night Rises, a show that combined them with a selection of songs and sketches to provide a full evening of entertainment, directed by Samm Lees and Fiona Robson.

The show opened with a rousing rendition of The Proclaimers’ ‘I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles)’, initially featuring a soloist but soon encompassing the whole ensemble.  We were then welcomed by our three comperes – Lisa Maxwell, Lynne Neale and Graham Robson.  They cropped up regularly throughout the evening to link the performances, as well as acting in some of them too.  They read their links from binders, which I do think puts a certain distance between the hosts and the audience, but in this case they did do a good job of maintaining eye contact. 

The first sketch was ‘Waiter! Waiter!’, a funny scene set in a restaurant featuring a feast of clever puns.  This certainly got the show off to a very jolly start!  It was followed by a full-throated rendition of ‘If I Were A Rich Man’ from Fiddler on the Roof, performed with great characterisation by Nick Johnson.  Musical accompaniment was provided, here and throughout, by Steve Bird, who got a well-deserved shout out from the comperes later in the show. 

The next sketch was based around the TV show ‘Mastermind’ and was again full of good puns, after which a female ensemble belted out ‘Valerie’ with gusto.  A version of Monty Python’s classic sketch ‘The Argument’ followed.  It’s tricky to add a new edge to such a well-known piece of comedy, but the performers certainly gave it their all, and the audience responded with plenty of laughs.  Whilst I recognised this, and some of the other sketches, I wasn’t sure whether others may have been self-written?  If that was the case, then the team certainly did a good job in maintaining the quality. 

Moving on to ‘In the Year 2000’, a sketch which cleverly played on the concept of the famous ‘I Know My Place’ sketch from The Frost Report.  In this case, we had three characters from across different time periods, from a medieval peasant, to a renaissance lady and finally a modern man. 

Bringing the first half to a close was the first of the two short plays being revived for the occasion – ‘What Lies Before Us’, written by Chloe McDonald and directed by Karen McDonald.  This was a dramatic piece (thereby providing a nice change of tone from the comedy that had preceded it) telling the story of Margot (Natalie Kaminski), who arrives in the afterlife after being killed in an accident, only to be confronted by three people from her past – a workmate (Baz Stilinski), her rebellious sister (Fiona Robson) and her husband (Nick Johnson).  It turned out that they were all looking to move on to the next stage in their journey, but needed some form of closure with Margot to achieve that.  Similarly, she needed something from them to enable her to embark on her own pilgrimage.  This was a poignant and thoughtful play, well acted to bring out the emotion of Margot’s situation and that of her past acquaintances. 

Into the second half, which began with Lynne Neale’s forsaken wedding guest announcing ‘It Should Have Been Me’, before a re-enactment of some rounds from the radio show ‘I’m Sorry I Haven’t A Clue’.  Next up was a funny scene in which Samm Lees’ frustrated diva had to deal with a group of hapless backing singers during a rendition of ‘California Dreaming’ – great fun! 

This was followed by the second short play of the night, ‘Detention Duty’, written and directed by Baz Stilinski, who also appeared as a frustrated school teacher hosting detention for truculent pupils Keira Marston and Maddy Williams.  This certainly felt like a story with its roots in real-life experience, as the play demonstrated the need to actually listen to and understand the roots of certain types of bad behaviour.  All three actors gave good performances, well characterised and focused on the message of the play.

A well-performed acapella version of ‘Only You’ was next up, then we were back into the classroom as a teacher was given a lesson herself in ‘Learning ABC’.  We were back to pun-based comedy next, with ‘I Spy’.  I can see why the team left this one towards the end, as it was a very funny scene, full of clever wordplay and well performed by the whole cast, with great comic timing.  Singer Samm Lees then returned for ‘Make Me Feel You Love’, which was followed by a final sketch , ‘Sleep talking’, in which a potentially adulterous partner gave away a little too much during his afternoon doze. 

Finally, the whole ensemble returned for a humorously combative rendition of ‘New York, New York’.  In addition to those performers already mentioned, I would also like to congratulate the rest of the ensemble for their great work throughout.  So well done to Hana Adler, Nicholas Milton, Jonathan Pickett, Jane Hemmings, Cameron Vernon, and Angharad James. 

There is always a great welcome at a Phoenix Players show, and this was no different.  My thanks to the entire team, and I look forward to seeing you all later in the year for another self-written piece, this time from the pen of Andi Hardy-Rastall – ‘The Holey Matrimony’.

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