Acorn Antiques

~~I would suspect most people will remember The Victoria Wood Show on TV which introduced us to Acorn Antiques and because of this anyone deciding to actually stage this show must have confidence in their actors that they can pull it off as no doubt there will be people comparing their actors to the ones appearing on TV. Well Maltby MTC need have no doubts this week when they performed it as all the actors were first class and were able to “pull it off” with ease.

This show needs a very strong lady to portray the part of Mrs Overall, the iconic lead in this show and Karen Powell was perfect, it cant be an easy task to perform with a permanent stoop on stage as well as having a cushion pushed up her clothes but she was able to do this to perfection, not only acting but also singing and dancing the part all the way through.

Mrs Overall has three daughters, although we do not know they are her daughters until part way through the second half, again these would be heavily compared to the actors who performed on the TV show. In these parts we had Elaine Demaine as Miss Babs, Anita Boylan as Miss Berta and Lizzie Murphy as Miss Bonnie, all three of these were able to capture their parts and although heavily influenced by the TV show they were also able to make them their own. I have to say how Anita was able to play this part with a grin from ear to ear all the way through I will never know, she must have had jaw ache for days after the show ended.

We also had some great performances from David Mitchell as Mr Clifford, the love interest of Miss Berta who had lost his memory, Richard Wilshaw as Tony, the Cockney loan shark who never lost his accent all the way through and also Heather Stotton and Josh Matkin as Mimi and Hugh, the two YTS students who initially appeared to be a little dim!

I also enjoyed the performances from Kev Jackson and Michael Cahill as the gay lovers, Derek and Mr Watkins, these two were perfect and I would imagine everyone in the audience would have a lump in their throats when they sang their “Gent’s Duet” which was very moving to say the least.

I also must make mention of the set which was perfect in every way, designed by Roger Hazelwood and constructed by the society.

Many congratulations to all involved and thank you for a great show.      

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