Cabaret

  It was a pleasure to visit the superb Village Hall venue of the New Buckenham Players. The hall was set up for a ‘sit at table’ evening where tables were adorned with proper cloths flowers and ‘candles’ creating a great atmosphere to enjoy an evening of music and comedy.

  The first opening act set the scene with a super interpretation of the Gloria Gaynor song  ‘I Will Survive’, as a trio of ‘old’ ladies’ bemoaning life’s struggles, and then ‘stripping’, to reveal ‘Superwoman’ suits with the capital S logo, and a twinkle in the eye, as they celebrated their true selves, transforming in both body and mind to much audience mirth and acclaim... A super piece put together by (Meryl Anderson, Belle Chirodian and Susie Jowett). There were other songs from Hugh Lynch with ‘Mack the Knife’, but who really excelled in Act 2 with the moving ‘Everybody Knows’, and Phil Spicer brought us ‘First Cut is the Deepest’, then again his Act 2 Cat Stevens classic,  ‘Where the Children Play’ proved to be his best number. Sound balance was a bit of a problem in Act 1. ‘The Song That Goes Like This ‘ by Richard Peat attracted the biggest laugh of the evening,  while marks for poignancy went to Ollie Allen for ‘Nobody Home’.

 Act I finished on a comedy high with ‘A History of the Joke’ by (Richard Peat, Jimpy Casson, Ollie Allan and Samantha Jones) this really was a rib tickler and left us all laughing, as slapstick comedy was explained and depicted in so many ways, from banana skins and the plank, to custard pies delivered with split second timing, and received with considerable bravery! All this putting us in the mood for a supper of baked potato and curry (other fillings were available!)...All devoured with great relish…a nice touch!

  The comedy aspect was well in evidence throughout as Susie Jowett offered some  gentle humorous observations and ‘life reflections’ as  Kitti (1 and 2) and Sally Elvin triggered some memories as she delivered  a Joyce Grenfell classic, ‘Stop that George’. Perhaps these pieces were a little subdued, as each  was largely read  from script, losing some emphasis and engagement, but we laughed along and enjoyed the nostalgia. No such problem for Joseph Rosales with his performance ‘Our Sammy’ which was stylish, and full of humorous  expression , we loved it, even if he was… ‘nearly eight’!…

 A highlight in the comedy department was the nostalgic visit to the Monty Python sketch of       ‘Four Yorkshiremen’ (well one woman Samantha Jones, with Jimpy Casson, Richard Peat and Ollie Allen) as they attempted to outdo each other with the deprivations of their upbringing and castigation of ‘today’s’ privileged youngsters ! Samantha Jones, who delivered readings at the opening of each act, closed with an appropriate piece from Shakespeare ‘Pucks Epilogue’…but no apology needed here… the audience had seen some super acts, ‘and all perchance’, bodes well for your next panto !

 I was a little disappointed that there was no ensemble finale to close the show and perhaps missed the continuity of an MC or at least a link to introduce each act…perhaps all were known to the community audience anyway? The whole evenings musical accompaniment was in the hands of two local  young men, ‘The New Bucks Aroos’, with Harry Stevens on Guitar and Billy Hoddy-Brown on keyboard, who also delivered his own piece ‘Storm’, which showed that there was a great potential for future productions to benefit from their skills…maybe a little more volume would have helped as their musical support was very much part of this enjoyable evenings entertainment… 

 A special thank you to Terry for covering the show (understand no programmes so may be problems in note-taking for names)

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