Beyond a Joke

Derek Benfield’s farcical play was given a polished airing from the talented team at Clitheroe in what proved to be another slick evening’s entertainment at the St Mary’s Centre. ‘Beyond a Joke’ concerns itself with the very unlucky house belonging to Andrew and Jane, where people seem to have a habit of meeting with fatal accidents. When their daughter Sally brings home boyfriend Geoff for the weekend, he is rather shocked to discover that his girlfriend’s parents seem to have a reputation for making sure their visitors never leave... With comical misunderstandings aplenty, bodies being scooted about the place in wheelbarrows and a couple of corpses playing hide and seek, things quickly spiral out of control in the most amusing fashion.

The curtain opened on to a very well crafted set: dividing the stage half and half between the sitting room and the garden, the audience was afforded a panoramic view of proceedings from inside and out. Discovered clambering up a ladder at the outset of the play, Kelley Steed as Jane hit the ground running (figuratively speaking of course) with her very ‘Hyacinth Bucket’ portrayal of the lady of the house. Strangulated vowels and a ‘jolly hockey sticks’ cheeriness abounded from Jane, her larger than life characterisation helping to suggest the bottled up hysteria just below the surface. Husband Andrew was played with a hefty degree of world-weary sang froid by Damian Marsh in a very solid performance, keeping the show peddling along at a good pace all evening. When pesky young Geoff arrives for the weekend, the series of misunderstandings and comical carryings-on begin in earnest as he invariably gets the wrong end of the stick. Oliver Bowen did a splendid job of bringing Geoff to life and fizzed about on stage unflaggingly throughout. Geoff is one of those dreadful young ‘types’ who regularly appear in entertainments such as this (lives in a commune; only drinks apple juice; a PhD in selfish earnestness... you know the sort) but whom thankfully, one rarely encounters in real life. Oliver’s very expressive performance was a delight and he made sure the action whizzed along nicely throughout: great work. With Amy Prendergast on fine form as girlfriend Sally and Geralyn Lambert working wonders with the role of dotty, gin-soaked Sarah, the household was well placed to make merry with the farcical goings-on as the bodies start to pile up.

Every play of this sort needs its visiting vicar - they always turn up when you least expect them! - and here, Brian Haworth gave us a perfectly polished ropey reverend. Alas, almost before he could finish his coffee, the vicar is discovered slumped over the garden furniture, joining the deceased TV repairman (playing a corpse in a cupboard is always a thankless task and never an easy one: full marks to Trevor Lord here!) The race is on to make sure suspicious Geoff is kept in the dark and, more importantly, that Geoff’s parents - having driven all the way from Stoke Poges no less - don’t stumble across the bodies as they promenade around the garden. Sam Smith shone as Audrey - a small role which she made very much her own - and Peter Lambert was every inch the baffled Edgar as the madcap antics whirl about around him. 

As always with affairs of this sort, timing is everything and fortunately, Lesley Haworth had drilled her cast to perfection. Each appearance of the wheelbarrow (with its various lifeless passengers), each whisk of the curtains and every trip to the cupboard was done to a tee: the red herring of Geoff’s bag was nicely done too. The set was an essay in stage perfection and very well dressed into the bargain - gold stars all round here to Brian Haworth and the technical team. The ‘twin set’ (if you’ll pardon the expression) worked very well and the action was able to progress smoothly from indoors to outside in the garden. Lighting cues were pin sharp and if I was initially dubious as to the need for the cast to wear head mics given the nature of the piece and the venue in question, it didn’t do any harm and it certainly made sure that we heard every word of the dialogue. The determination of everyone to stick to a certain accent of a vaguely ‘Home Counties’ descent was admirable - even though I’m sure I heard that linguistic cardinal sin of ‘butcher’ being pronounced as ‘batcher’ at one point - but it did nothing but add to the generally gaiety of the evening. Costumes and props were nicely chosen and suited the production admirably too (and I was especially taken with the coffee set!) We even benefitted from a comical twist in the tale at the very end too...

Here was a wholesome and enjoyable production where the whole company really knitted together to create a great evening of live entertainment. Worthwhile, humorous and without the unnecessary whiff of a TV sit-com adaptation in the air, this was a masterclass in how to present live theatre of first class quality. My thanks to all at Clitheroe for a very warm welcome and a most enjoyable evening in the company of real talent. Keep up the good work!

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