Are You Being Served?

Those of us of a certain age will in all probability be familiar with the 1970’s television sitcom from which this farce was adapted. As is usual, there are the innuendoes, silly one liners and obligatory bedroom run-arounds. Of which, in this particular play, the majority being seen in Act two, when the Grace Brothers department store staff are offered a subsidized holiday in a one star hotel on an imaginary Costa. Need more be said!

Considering how small the society is, casting of the individual characters was pretty good. Most cast were able to display the familiar traits, associated with established actors such as John Inman as the camp Mr Humphries and Mollie Sugden as the ‘colourful’ Mrs Slocombe, managing to deliver the stand alone one liners with ease. It was unfortunate that some of the dialogue was lost, as it was often spoken upstage. As a result, the audience were unable to hear it and at times were unclear of the story line.

Costumes were chosen well, entirely in keeping with the character and situation. The lederhosen and all those legs were particularly impressive! The society used a basic set, to suit the available, limited stage space. Some difficulties did arise in Act 2 where there are several short scenes. The society tried to help the audience by changing each one during a blackout. However, this was time consuming and disrupted the required fast pace and desired flow that farce needs to maintain audience attention. Perhaps it might be a good idea for the society to look at other methods of doing this for future shows. This is a difficult play to direct and stage but full credit must be given to the cast, who worked hard and succeeded in entertaining the local community audience. I hope this will encourage their support for next year.

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