A Song at Twilight

Once again we were treated to an evening of excellent entertainment from Alnwick Theatre Club in their production of ‘A Song at Twilight’. They are so good at this form of drama, and continue to give us a varied programme of super plays. This one depicted an elderly writer confronted by his former mistress about his past life that he would prefer to forget and, as the plot was revealed, the actors on stage gave fine performances and kept us highly amused with the many emotional aspects that are required to make this play captivating.

The complex character of ‘Hugo Latymer’ was played by Paul Tutleman who highlighted how hard he had worked to portray the many emotions needed to successfully convince us of the turmoil in his relationships with both sexes. Paul had to hold the show together, and did this admirably. Initially anticipating the arrival of former mistress Carlotta he was convincingly nervous, and on her arrival easily transferred emotions to those of sentiment and waspish memories. He then created a very tense atmosphere on being asked by Carlotta if she could publish former love letters in her memoirs written by Hugo to Carlotta. Paul continued to show many emotions with a final breakdown when given back his love letters from Carlotta that he had sent to the ‘love of his life’ Perry Sheldon. He captivated the audience with a deeply moving portrayal of grief at the end of the play.

‘Hilde Latymer’ was the former secretary and wife of twenty years to Hugo. This part was played by Carol Lawrence. Carol is a joy to watch, and an actress of much experience.  She never fails to delight the audience with her spirited performances, and this one was no exception. There were many sides to this character and she delivered them with great timing and panache. When Hilde revealed she knew of the affairs Hugo had tried to conceal she was superb in her delivery to inform him.

Holly Dempsey, new comer to this society was perfectly cast in the role as ‘Carlotta Grey’, the former mistress of Hugo. She was sparkling and very articulate and as she made us aware that it was her mission to publish love letters and that she needed the permission of Hugo to do so, she really locked us into the plot.

Nick Lewis made a very convincing waiter, namely Felix. He had perfected this cameo role with many little mannerisms which were excellent and he really managed to do his duties and remain anonymous as his part demanded.  He efficiently and quietly served ‘Hugo’ with his food and drink, and my hat goes off to Paul in eating a very hearty supper and speaking his lines perfectly. He certainly would need no supper when he went home!!!

A very wordy play, but this quartet of actors were word perfect and were so slick. With an excellent set, good lighting and authentic costumes, this group pulled off yet another very successful production. Well done everyone!

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