Business Affairs

BUSINESS AFFAIRS a play presented by Wigan Little Theatre at Wigan Little Theatre, Crompton Street, Wigan on Friday, 17th March, 2023.

‘Business Affairs’ is a farce, penned by John Chapman and Jeremy Lloyd.  ‘Stanley’ and ‘Norman’ are attempting to sell their failing haulage business… to two European business men ‘Kurt’ and ‘Sven’. A meeting is arranged at a smart London Hotel to sign off on the deal.  At the request of the ‘buyers’… ‘Stanley’, unbeknown to ‘Norman’, agrees to organises the services of two ‘sophisticated ladies of the night’ to help them celebrate after the deal is done!  What could possibly go wrong!  Well, all appears to be going to plan until the unexpected arrival of ‘Hilda’ and ‘Rose’ the wives of ‘Stanley’ and ‘Norman’… who just want to wish their husband’s good luck!  Chaos ensues when the wives are unexpectedly mistaken by the buyers as the ‘call girls’ and things get even more ‘heated’ when the ‘real call girls’ suddenly arrive! 

Production Team… Paul Leffler had been assigned the role of Director for this production.  Having read Paul’s programme notes and now having seen the production… I can see why Paul suggests that he and the cast had so much fun rehearsing this production!  Paul also suggests in his notes that ‘timing’ and ‘characterisation’ are crucial to the success of this type of production, to which I can only concur and it was obvious from the moment those curtains parted that Paul and his cast, who always looked happy and engaged, were up for the challenge! It’s always good to keep an ear open at theend of a production to gather a little feedback from the audience… from the positive comments and the smiles on people’s faces, there was little or no doubt that everyone had enjoyed their evening
and went home happy, be ever so proud Paul, good job sir!   

The Cast…  four males and four females made up the cast!  Once again, I find myself in a little strife… ‘Show Stealer’ … ‘favourite character(s)’… I’m not really sure that the success of this production was down to an individual, it was more about ‘cast togetherness’, ‘creation of good characters’, whilst being surrounded by a plethora of great one liners!  So, where to start… let’s start with our two male leads… our NODA Award Winning Comedy Duo of Mark Lloyd and Joey Wiswell taking on the roles of ‘Stanley Bigley’ and ‘Norman Harris’ respectively!  Stanley, the ideas man, the ‘straight role’ if you like, whilst ‘Norman’ was the dim, slightly incompetent, easily led company accountant.  These two guys always work ever so well together… both have great comedic timing; they bounce off each other with effortless ease which was prevalent again throughout this production!  They both created two believable characters, great stage presence, impeccable comic timing, their mannerisms and in particular Joey’s ‘facial expressions’ were exceptional.  There were so many one great liners… especially from Joey…like… ‘Biding a Ricycle’ …   ‘She only poses like Mae West on my Birthday’ … (Hooker to Norman) …’You need to move your Car Keys’ … (Norman to Hooker - deadpan) … ’Why, there in my overcoat’… tears just rolling down my face!  Well done you two, great job as always!   The Wives… ‘Hilda’ or should I say ‘Hildegarde Bigley’ and ‘Rose Harris’ were played ever so well by Amanda Leamon and Nicola Reynolds respectively who are transformed from devoted, yet ‘slightly’ naïve housewives’ into ‘ladies of the night’ in an attempt to further their husbands’ efforts to sell their failing business. Again, good stage presence, good characterisation… liked the contrast created between the ‘naïve’ to ‘simmering savvy temptresses’ … well done ladies be proud!   Darran Robertson and Chris Roberts took on the roles of ‘Kurt Hoffman and ‘Sven Uberg’ … ‘polar opposites’ of Stanley and Norman.  ‘Kurt’ is a hard-nosed German Businessman whilst ‘Sven’ is the laid-back Swedish Iron Man; they both mistake ‘Hilda and Rose’ as the ‘escorts’ booked as their ‘bonus’ when the deal is signed!   Darran and Chris are two more blessed with good stage presence, confident throughout, who worked well with all the other casts members… loved ‘Sven’s ‘Viking Hat’ and ‘Swedish flag’ undies!  Well done guy’s great job!  Making up the ‘eight’ we had our ‘alluring call girls’ …  ‘Sabrina’ and ‘Valerie’, played ever so well by Beth Garner and ‘Kitti Dixon respectively!  Confident, good stage presence, looked totally comfortable throughout with spot on comic timing…all the attributes required to make these roles believable! Well done girls, good job!

Staging/Set/Tech… a single, simple set was used throughout depicting the interior of the hotel room in which the meeting was taking place with two visible doors to bedrooms and an exit at the rear suggesting the entrance to the room… this worked really well providing a suitable/fitting stage for the actors to perform and the play to work!  John Naughton/John Dudley (Stage Managers), Paul Leffler (Set Design), Brian Heap, Gary Hill, John Gostelow, Phil Wood, Kevin Fairhurst and David Flanagan (Set Construction), plus Christine Armstrong, Ellen Fitton, Maggie Hall, Maureen Schofield, Mary B Hall, Veronica Teasdale, Patricia Ashurst, Barbara Rimmer, Val Miller and Amanda Leamon (Set Painting) … should all be congratulated for their efforts!  

Lighting/Sound was under the watchful eye of Owen Rasburn, Colin Haynes, Becky Hampson, Jacob Lathom, Kim Brown and Rick Kershaw, well done folks, good job! 
Wardrobe… the costumes were apt and off the period… congrats to Stacey Vernon and the cast!
Props… were ideal and enhanced the production so much… congrats to Elaine Delaney, Katie Davis, Calli Crook, Jess Sinclair, Anne Martin and Sharlize Munro-Labuda.

There was so much to like about this production, the comedy, the characters, the situations as they unfolded and developed…but, and I’m being very picky here, I would have just liked a little more ‘pandemonium’ a little more ‘chaos/mayhem’ as the different situations unfolded … especially when ‘housewives were becoming hookers’ for the night…  it all seemed a little bit safe, if that’s the right word or term!  This could well have been down to the script and not the production!  I hope I haven’t offended or overstepped, never my intention… because I thoroughly enjoyed the production!

Thank you for inviting my wife and I we really did enjoy ‘Business Affairs’ … looking forward to seeing you all again soon!

Stay safe, keep well…
‘Stronger Together’

Jim Briscoe
NODA NW
District 6 Rep

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