Last Tango in Whitby

What a great evening of comedy and laughter we had watching “Chorley Amateur Dramatic & Operatic Society’s” latest production the comedy “Last Tango in Whitby” written by that indomitable northern playwright and entertainer Mike Harding and directed by Jaqueline Green and Kath Ashworth. The play is set in 1980's, Yorkshire and tells the story of a group of  pensioners who go on a cheap all-inclusive coach holiday with entertainment thrown in to Whitby at the end of the summer season every year. The play starts with us meeting some of the wonderful characters in the cast, as they get on the coach ready to start their journey.These roles were all excellently played by some very experienced talented actors, there were no weak links, everyone appeared to work as a team which is very important in this type of comedy play. They included  Jimmy (Alan Pearson) who was a very jovial character using a lot of innuendo and double entendre in his conversation, he was very well supported by Gael Finch as his wife Joan,  both characters were the life and soul of the holiday.We meet talkative joker, Henry(Ken Brindley) who sits at the front of the coach, talking and distracting the driver(Shaun McManus) with his jokes and what he mistakenly believes is his better knowledge of the rout to Whitby. But for Pat,(Karen Miller) the holiday is tinged with sadness as her husband died nine months previously, however,  she is still determined to enjoy the holiday.Then at the Hotel we meet married couple and entertainers Phil (David Greenfield)and Edna(Kath Townsend), unfortunately Phil isn’t happy, feeling his life is mundane and he is trapped in a loveless  marriage, then during a dance with Pat, they both feel a spark of attraction. Their romance blossoms over the following week, and although some of her friends disapprove, they decide to seize the moment and make arrangements to stay with Pat’s sister hoping to start a new life together. There was a  lovely trio of  ladies Kathleen(Moira  Dobson Welch), and Maureen (Bridgett Welch) who had some very comical lines as they, observe and judge the behaviour of their fellow holiday makers, the trio is completed by gentle quiet Jessie (Val Fotheringham) who  appears to be on a completely different wavelength, but in the end finds her voice and is supportive of Pat’s decision. I must also congratulate three very talented versatile young actors who were kept very busy playing a number of cameo roles between them, they were Ed Denning who played five very different roles, Emma Bailey who played Sally and Clare and Lucy Aspinall who played Debbie, a Honeymooner and the bartender. Also Emma and Lucy performed a very enjoyable dance routine during the holiday weeks talent contest in the guise of the hotel waitresses . There was a fairly large cast and the principles were securely supported by a number of chorus actors who included Alice (Renee Clitheroe) Edie (Linda Coppin), Sid (John Holland), Margaret (Hilda Livesey)and Evelyn (Sue Sutton).  Dialogue could be heard meaning the story could be followed easily, however, there were some occasional prompts but happily they did not affect the pace of the play and the audiences enjoyment. Congratulations to Choreographer Rebecca Dickinson  who took us all down memory lane by bringing to life some of the popular dances of the era as well as the old standards which included of course the Tango, and a big congratulations must go to the cast for performing these dances so expertly.  
The set as usual made good use of the stage area and was just right for the production,  transition between scenes was very smooth and there was good technical input, specifically the sound, lighting and the interesting projections of various locations on a screen at the back of the stage, adding realism to the setting of some of the scenes, such as the coach journey and a lovely view of Whitby Abbey. Also thought had gone into getting the costumes right for the era, which added authenticity to the play.
All the cast produced some clever comic performance as the play moves between humour, laughter and poignancy, and they all received the deserved laughter and applause from the audience. By the end  of the play we learn that mixed in with all the comedy and laughter, there were some lessons for us all to think about
Congratulations to everyone involved in bringing this  excellent very enjoyable production to the stage.
  

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