Black Adder the Third

Black Adder the Third a play performed by Southport Dramatic Club, on Thursday, 11th May, 2023 at Southport Little Theatre, Hoghton Street, Southport.

‘Blackadder the Third’ is a comedy play penned by the ever so talented duo of Richard Curtis and Ben Elton. The play celebrates everyone’s favourite Georgian TV sitcom from 1987 (were there any others?), starring the comic genius that is Rowan Atkinson. The storyline behind this play, deals with three episodes from the TV series, the first… ‘Sense & Senility’… Blackadder suggests that the ‘Prince’ should improve his public image and writes him a speech... the ‘Prince’ hires two actors to help with his elocution. Episode two… ‘Amy and Amiability’ Blackadder discovers the prince is also broke, having been tricked out of his money by his drinking buddies and is forced to search for a rich wife with a sizable dowry. Final Episode… ‘Duel and Duality’ sees the Duke of Wellington promising to kill the ‘Prince’ after he had a ‘fling’ with the duke’s nieces. But, as always Blackadder has ‘A CUNNING PLAN’ to prevent this… but things are never straight forward in the life of Blackadder!
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 

The Production Team … Jacqui Padden (Director) along with Peter Hoyle (Assistant Director) were the ones chosen to interpret these ‘three episodes from the TV sitcom’ into the last play in this year’s SDC season. In Jacqui’s programme notes she tells us that the rehearsal process for this play had been a riot, full of fun and laughter and after seeing the play, I can understand why!  Jacqui also points out the others who were integral in getting this play to stage, not only the cast, who introduced us to some wonderful characters, but also the set building team, the scenic artist and the Stage Management team all of whom she thanked!  Congrats to everyone involved… all that effort truly did pay off!                                                                                                             

The Cast…   a cast of eleven (eight males and three females - some taking on more than one role), were the ones tasked with bringing this story to stage… which they did with great aplomb!  As most will know this is where I identify MY favourites… and I stress MY favourites … ask anyone else present that evening and they may well have chosen others … but these are MINE!   My ‘Show Stealer’ was a ‘three-way fight’ between Tony O’Keefe and his portrayal of ‘Blackadder’, Richard Michell and his portrayal of ‘Prince George’ and Ange McIntyre and her portrayal of ‘Mrs Miggins’.  I’ve plumped for Tony O’Keefe’s portrayal of ‘Blackadder’… why, because he was hardly off stage, he made this part his own whilst providing us with an amazing characterisation of ‘Blackadder’, the devious, cheeky, yet intelligent butler to Prince George. Loved his interactions and involvement with both Baldrick and the Prince Regent.  The scene with the two actors and the prince… (OH NO… NOT ANOTHER REFERENCE TO MACBETH) was directed and acted to perfection… well done Tony, great job sir!   Richard’s characterisation of the ‘loud mouthed fool’ that was ‘Prince George’ wasn’t far behind. Richard oozed stage presence and comedy timing… loved his zany/over the top mannerisms, just what the doctor ordered and came across those footlights like a wave…  well done, Richard, great job!  ‘Mrs Miggins’ is hardly a ‘lead role’, but Ange took what was on offer and knocked it out the park!  Loved, loved, loved her entrances on the ‘truck’ with the ‘pie’ which got bigger and more animated as the show went on!  The scene with ‘MacAdder’ was a highlight for me!  There’s no doubt that her popularity with the audience grew as the play progressed, so much so that she probably got the biggest ovation at the bows!   Well done, Ange!  Chris Smalley took on the ‘iconic’ role of ‘Baldrick’… the slightly dim servant, sidekick and probably best friend of BlackAdder despite his apparent contempt for him!  Chris did a great job with the role, great stage presence, great comedic timing, loved the mannerisms and facial expressions … well done Chris!  Gary Simpson (Keanrick/MacAdder) and Graeme Hunt (Mossop /Duke) took on two roles each. They joined forces in episode two as ‘Keanrick’ and ‘Mossop’, the two actors chosen to help the prince with his image… well done to both!  (PS… loved Gary’s portrayal of MacAdder… great accent!)  Zoe Findlay took on the role of ‘Amy Harwood’ chosen by Blackadder to marry Prince George because it was believed that her father Mr Hardwood, the moronic industrialist played by Ed Davies was extremely rich… wrong!  Wedding cancelled; Amy comes back to the fore later as the highwayman ‘The Shadow’… well done you two!  Tom Ashcroft appears in episode three as the very enraged ‘Duke of Wellington’ who’s on the ‘war path’ after discovering that Prince George as had a fling with his nieces… well done sir great job!  Our final two characters… Caroline Charnock who took on the role of ‘Sally’ and Phil Povey who took on the role of the ‘King’.  Great casting, great characters created … well done one and all!

MY Favourite Quotes… of which there were so many… totally hilarious….
BALDRICK... ‘I can’t see the point in theatre… all that sex and violence, I get all that at home apart from the sex of course!       
BLACKADDER… “Oh yes, your highness, why your very posture tells me here’s a man of true greatness, either that or ‘Here are my genitals, please kick them”.  
BLACKADDER… ‘Leave me alone Baldrick, If I’d have wanted to talk to a vegetable, I’d have bought one from the market”!  
PRINCE… I like the story – “The Prince and the Porpoise” … BLACKADDER ‘and the Pauper’ … PRINCE… “Ah yes, I like the story of “The Prince, the Porpoise and the Pauper”!

Staging/Set/Tech …  a simple set was used throughout. The stage was divided in two (Blackadder’s quarters and Prince Georges residence). Lit as required, with trucks used to create other areas and situations. It all worked very well, allowing the actors the space and location to create the mayhem that is Blackadder!  Congrats to Ged Whittle (Stage Manager) and David Cox (Assistant), Radley Haynes (Set Design/ Crew), Mikes Yates (Crew), Bob Jessamine (Scenic Artist) and the SDC Construction Team for all their efforts.
‘Constructive Advice’ … as with most productions taken from TV Series, this production was punctuated with a great number of scene changes (not something that could be avoided I would suggest). Most of those changes were carried out in blackout. ‘Blackouts’ invariably slow productions down and the stop/start situation can and did have a knock-on effect with some of the comedy, which was a real shame, because this was a very funny play!  I was trying to think of ways to negate some, if not all the ‘blackouts’ and came up with the idea of ‘creating a repetitive scene’ (nothing to do with the story, so not to breach ‘copyright’ or any other rule), but a simple repetitive scene that could be carried out in slightly dimmed lighting!  (Example: stage crew or actors bring on truck / stage manager gets involved either on stage or shouting from the wings… something like…  “Wrong scene… get it off” … bit of a conversation between crew and SM / bit of mayhem (just make it up/ make it funny), audiences might not fully appreciate / understand first time it happens, but do the same scene every time a blackout should occur and they’ll hopefully soon realise and appreciate what’s going on!  Audiences love a mistake… but when they realise it’s not a mistake as such, I do think they could and would enjoy it!  Hopefully more hilarity more mayhem!  Hope I haven’t offended or overstepped … just an idea to consider for future!

Lighting/Sound was, as always, first-class… overseeing lighting was Alan Gosling/Syd Coley, with Pete Beswick/Debbie Moss (Sound).  Wardrobe… costumes were superb and enhanced the show ever so much … keeping an eye on them was Diane Ogden, Sam Fulstow and Michele Martin.  Props… first class and used well throughout… under the watchful eye of Paul-James Green, Becky Collingham, Natasha Athey, Paul Rawcliffe & Suzanne Grey.  Wigs… looked amazing … being looked after by Karen Parkinson and Barbara Galvin.

Thank you so much for inviting my wife and I … thoroughly enjoyed the evening, can’t wait to see you all again soon!                                                                                                                                                                     

“Stay Safe… Keep well”
“Stronger Together”

Jim Briscoe
NW Region
District 6 Rep

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