Bats and Little Grimley - Saving the Planet

As always with this group, I received a very warm welcome on arrival at the comfortable village hall in Swanmore, and we took our seats eagerly awaiting what this very able group was going to bring us with these two one-act plays.

Bats – by Phil Mansell, directed by Nicki Cresswell

Phil Mansell is an author I’ve not encountered before, but a little research uncovered that he is quite a prolific playwright with 12 published works to his name. Bats is an extremely well plotted play about a man, Peter, becoming ever more frustrated by the non-appearance of a pest controller to deal with a bat infestation in his loft.

We were presented with a nicely simple living room set, designed by Vonne Clephan, just black curtains with good furniture and a very solid door. Costumes by Brenda Austin, were contemporary and suited the characters perfectly.

Peter, the key character, was beautifully portrayed by Mike Clay, gradually building up to a state of frothing indignation and anger as the play progressed. We could see that he would easily irritate everyone around him especially his wife Helen, a lovely calm and sanguine performance by Shuna Rose, but somehow you couldn’t help having a little sympathy for him. Jane Foster gave Ann, the cosmetics sales lady, a lovely air of twinkle and sauciness, and Luke Gray was highly believable as the religious zealot, “on the knock.” Olivia Clarke was spot-on as Una the nosey new neighbour desperate to find out all the local gossip – and what a wonderful Brummie accent! Rob Stead was very believable as Mike, the much-delayed Pest Controller, so easily distracted from the task in hand, especially when Stella, the Stripper-gram arrived – so well played by Karen Garside.

There were laughs aplenty throughout the play, although I felt the script sagged a bit towards the end and we could have arrived at the dénouement (where bats take over, like Hitchcock’s The Birds) a little sooner. A problem with the script, not the performance, I hasten to add.

Little Grimley – Saving the Planet – by David Tristram, directed by Rob Stead

David Tristram is a very reliable and prolific comedy writer, and Saving The Planet is the latest in his series of Little Grimley plays, reviving familiar characters. It takes a bit of a pop at people’s attempts to become carbon neutral and what all the terms bandied about actually mean. Little Grimley Amateur Dramatic Society has been told by the local council to reduce its carbon footprint. Chairman Gordon has a cunning plan but, as usual, things don’t go to plan.

This play was treated to an even simpler set – just a table and chairs but immediately summoning up images of a typical village hall (or even The Vicar of Dibley!) Costumes again were contemporary and well-suited to the characters, especially Joyce’s colourful knitted accessories.

As just a four-hander, it was clear that each actor had really studied their roles and inhabited their characters. Everyone knows a “Gordon” as portrayed by Roger Minors, sanctimonious and overbearing, taking charge and trying to bulldoze his ideas through. Bernard (Mike Rich) provided a lot of the comedy, especially his delightful attempts to milk the ‘miserable old cow’. Helen Stead was a great contrast as Margaret, in a nice business suit, but just as daft with her stance as a weekend vegan. She somehow managed to retain her dignity when cast as the cow in Gordon’s play. Joyce was played with endearing confusion by Lesley Preedy, knitting throughout, as she regaled the committee with her unusual concept of vegetarianism.

This script was the tighter of the two and there were plenty of laughs all through the play. I would never have known this was Rob Stead’s first outing as a director – a very accomplished production, well done Rob and cast.

Sound effects and lighting (Gail Norris and Anne-Marie Varberg) for both plays were excellent. Although there were one or two prompts on this first night, everyone projected well so there was no difficulty hearing. Stage management (Jeremy Clephan) was unobtrusive and efficient, and the scene changes in the second play were well handled by the crew. I would particularly like to commend Nicki Cresswell and Gail Norris for their poster design (also used on the programme) – what artists you ladies are!

Another great production by this strong and accomplished group and the good size audience sounded like they enjoyed all the shenanigans you brought us just as much as I did. Well done to everyone!

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