Caught In The Net

Farce is a notoriously challenging style of comedy for a drama group to pull off, requiring excellent stage-management and totally focussed precision and energy from the actors, with the whole thing building at an almost relentless pace. With Caught in the Net Swanage Drama Company succeeded in this challenge and congratulations go to the Director (Brian Travers) and all of the Cast, Crew and Production Team on this. Their achievement is all the more impressive because this particular farce has a staging of two domestic flats with two families, side by side. In order to show the audience the two separate families carrying on their lives at the same time the flow has to be even sharper, the cue pick-ups even snappier, than usual. The Cast achieved this.

Well done too to the team which designed, constructed and dressed the set representing the two flats. It was a clever design, well executed, and  was both convincing – the two homes overlapping but still distinct - and practical for allowing a rapid switching of action between the two families. I did wonder why the clock on the wall at the back was stuck at 8.55 when the action of Act 1 seemed to be set in mid-afternoon and progressed in ‘real time’, but that’s a tiny, tiny quibble to make regarding such a brilliant set. The lighting design also worked well, for example with the green lighting used behind one of the flat doors to emphasise the sense of the hedge and garden outside one of the flats.

As the central character (with a lot of lines to learn), John Smith gave a high-octane performance which was both funny and believable; a considerable achievement given the – traditionally for farce - far-fetched nature of the plot. He played panicky and desperate extremely effectively and was very funny and adept in the comic pieces such as the phone impression of a staff member at a Chinese takeaway, and the ‘Jaws’ impression at the end of Act 1. I was particularly impressed by the adroitness with which he threw his mobile phone backwards over his shoulder and succeeded, without looking, in making it land on the chair some distance away. In Act Two his schemes to handle the problematic situation became increasingly manic, to the amusement of the audience, and he delivered a superb monologue outlining his plan which got a big round of applause.

Crucial to the dynamic of the play and to ‘framing’ John’s frantic antics was his lodger Stanley Gardner. His acting was really strong and the office worker messaging service impression was an absolute delight. He was excellent at playing angry when trying to fool Gavin and was very funny indeed in his routine of giving directions for getting to ‘Poppy’s’ and avoiding ‘Luigi’s’. John and Stanley made a great double-act, with some wonderful irate interaction. The speed and action steadily ramped up as they tried desperately to keep all the plates spinning, and they performed this very well indeed. When Stanley finally said ‘I pass’ in response to John saying to him ‘it’s your turn to say something’ it rang true and you felt for him.

While those two acted in a frequently high-energy, almost over-the-top style appropriate for farce, the other characters adopted - equally appropriately - a lower-key, more ‘natural’ mode; the one mode contrasting nicely with, and setting-off, the other.

Stanley’s father, for example, acted as a perfect foil for John’s eccentric extremes. The actor was very strong and very convincing and it was a lovely and highly funny moment when he threw away his walking stick and fell over without John needing to do anything other than look at him; the success of this ‘gag’ being down to great acting and timing, plus the way it had been built-up to with the skilfully executed slapstick of John repeatedly kicking Dad Gardner’s stick away.

The Teenage children, Gavin Smith and Vicky Smith, were also very good foils to their desperate Dad. They were engagingly naïve and enthusiastic, with Gavin delivering a wonderful portrayal of bewilderment at the strangeness of what was going on around him. Vicky gave a strong performance and demonstrated a particularly fine example of ‘natural’ acting.

Vicky’s mother Mary was excellent as the super-reasonable and calm wife of John who became gradually more concerned and anxious as things progressed, and John’s other wife Barbara had great stage presence and gave a masterclass of natural acting in being calm and controlled while events were spiralling out of control. This worked perfectly with the farce business such as her and John going repeatedly and rapidly in and out of doors. Congratulations too to the Backstage Crew who clearly worked hard and effectively throughout the play to make it all work.

The production delivered a perfect balance and blend of farce and sit-com with well-realised characters providing physical and linguistic comedy of a high order. Congratulations to everyone involved and thank you for a delightful evening.

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