Addicts Anonymous

A Greek sojourn was on the cards as I once again made the trip to the ever-welcoming Norbury Theatre for their latest production – Addicts Anonymous.  This is a new play (expanded, I think, from what was originally a one-act) by local writer Roger Goddard, who also directed. 

The play follows three couples on a holiday on Greek island, who are stranded together in a remote villa when the bus carrying them breaks down.  Each of them is suffering from some sort of addiction, which governs their actions in the villa and also later in the play, when the action relocates to their hotel and then to a hospital.  Accompanying them is their Greek host, whom they initially think dead of a snake bite but who later revives and spends much of the play trying to reassure his troublesome guests.  At the end of the play, each of the addicts makes a resolution to conquer their addiction, although there are hints that for at least some of them that promise may be short lived.

I must admit I felt a bit squeamish at the idea of addiction – a very real and serious problem for some people – being mined for comedy value.  But then I guess the humorous drunk has been a staple of plays for a long while, and this play effectively extends that trope to other addictions.  Certainly the first-night audience seemed to enjoy the humour on offer, as the cast garnered a steady stream of laughter.

The three couples – and their addictions – were portrayed by Paul Steele (Magnus – a controlling authoritarian); Fiona Andrews (Jane – a nymphomaniac); James Ralley (Patrick – a gambler); Joy Williamson (Gloria – an alcoholic); Ellie Taylor (Natalie – a compulsive eater); and Jimmy Hill (Dan – therapy-obsessed).  All of the actors very clearly brought out their character’s various addictions early on in the play (so effectively that it rendered Natalie’s later explanation somewhat redundant!)  I did wonder what had brought each of these couples together, as none of them seemed to like each other that much, but as the play progressed we saw a thawing of relationships, as the characters came to terms with their problems. 

The final member of the cast was David Goode, who played Janis, the helpful and rather harried Greek hotelier-cum-tour guide, with an unending stream of (offstage) relatives who helped the story along. There was a running gag about people mis-pronouncing his name, and he also developed a catchphrase as he regularly assured the others that ‘everything is okay’ (even when it wasn’t)! 

The show started off in a sitcom style, later morphing into something closer to farce, as doors were slammed, embarrassing situations emerged, and confusion reigned.  The cast kept the pace up well, and delivered an increasing number of panto-style jokes as the show went on.  There was also a feel of the ‘Carry On’ films from time to time, especially in the scenes where manhunter Janet was on the prowl (I did wonder why her male ‘victims’ kept getting the blame when everyone knew of her addiction, though!) 

The fairly basic set functioned as each of the three locations, with small amendments each time and different furniture also being added as required.  I did wonder if a little more finesse could have been applied here, although I liked the lighting effect to denote an offstage fire in the first act.  The modern day costumes were simple but entirely appropriate to the setting. 

My thanks to all at the Norbury theatre for inviting me to this show – it’s always interesting to see new work and if the audience response at the curtain was anything to go by, their choice paid off! 

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