ALL TO PLAY 4

LAST PANTO IN LITTLE GRIMLEY by David Tristram

Director:              Affy Harris

This very amusing play within a play portrayed a small local amateur dramatic group having major problems on all fronts – financial, staging, and dwindling audiences.  Kim Cooper (Joyce & Dick’s Cat), Luke Pulfer (Gordon & front end of Pantomime Horse), Laura Allen (Margaret & Dick Whittington) and Antony Doggwiler (Bernard & back end of Pantomime Horse) all with good facial expressions and clear diction brought their characters to life.  The opening committee meeting had some aspects that many could probably relate to, as did Scene 2 with the reading of the pantomime script.    The Opening Night scene had a well executed back cloth with St Paul’s in the background for the Dick Whittington pantomime, with amusing incidents and disasters.   Costumes for the pantomime were good especially the head for the pantomime horse.  Well presented and very amusing.

CURSES, FOILED AGAIN! By Evelyn Hood

Director:              Andrew Rickson

Assisted by:       Rosemary Greenwood

This play within a play set on the eve of performance in the local drama festival, with tension and tempers running high was well presented by all the cast.  The setting of a country house room was well represented by the furniture and back cloth of the window with a country lane outlook. All the cast interpreted the contrast of their two characters well. Neale Winter when being Sir Jasper Rotten was sinister with both action and voice; Good clear diction and acting by cast drew one into the action of the Victorian melodrama.   Well directed with good costume.

ROUND THE WORLD WITH CLASS 6 by Nick Warburton

Director:              Mike Davenport

The younger members of the Entertainers, playing school pupils in their library conveyed us from quietly studying to interpreting Sir Francis Drake’s circumnavigation of the world. Using only the chairs, the school’s lost property box (which just happened to contain the props required), and their school ties, we were given a history lesson in a more memorable way.  Robert Garner (Sir Francis Drake) and Thomas Manly (Bosun) were confident in their respective characters with good clear diction.  The other members of the “crew” gave good support in their respective roles, again with clear diction.  A good youth group presentation.

TRAPPED by Michael Green

Director:              Sue Pinfold

Assisted by:       Laura Allen

A well designed drawing room set the scene for this play within a play from the series of plays for coarse actors.  The cast interpreted their characters in “A Baffling Thriller” well, and dealt with “disasters” like the doors coming away from their frames, with great aplomb.  All the cast acquitted themselves well with clear diction and met the challenge of this rather manic play. 

Lighting and sound for the four plays was well managed by Amy Wyatt and David Jeakins.

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