Checkout

Following on from their thought-provoking production, ‘The House, the Boys & the Trial’, the week before, Soup Productions produced the complete opposite in their light-hearted comedy, ‘Checkout’. Written in house, and directed, by Sam Duxbury and Mike Pirks, this production followed a trio of women on their journey in a supermarket from it’s opening to closing over a number of years. The set was fit for purpose, with the stage being used as the staffroom, with chairs and tables. The floor was used as the shop floor, with backdrops of produce. Three checkouts were made, which looked good. However, the positioning of these did mean that characters had their back to the audience at times and blocked other characters, resulting in lost dialogue. Pace in the production was generally good. The physical comedy of the characters Fingers and Betty was funny, but it did slow the pace down. There were plenty of entrances and exits used, with customers walking through the auditorium. There was a nice moment where Fingers used the fire exit when caught shoplifting. The announcements from the store manager, with relevant music of the year helped with the transitions. The writing was good, with elements of kitchen sink drama, from the Northern setting to some hard-hitting storylines examined. There was a fine balance between these storylines and the comedy, with the audience going on a rollercoaster of emotions throughout. Costumes were well thought of, with purple polo shirts for the staff of SuperSave. The purple blazer that Tracy wore in her supervisor role was a nice touch. The change in hair colour for some of the characters was a neat way of showing the passage of time.

The technical elements were straightforward for this production, and in all honesty, it didn’t need much. Lighting was a general wash, which covered all playing spaces used. The music and sound effects were well sourced and cued well.

Karen Hewitt played Tracy. Karen built a great rapport with Lisa and Louise as the leading trio. She was very much the leader from the outset, and was very much the straight character, complementing the characters of Marlena and Molly. There was a quiet strength to Karen’s character, which she was able to display in her final moment to the store manager after finding out about the closure of the store.

Lisa Rhodes played Marlena. This was a confident performance from Lisa who certainly through herself into the role. She had a great line delivery, getting plenty of laughs. Lisa was able to show a softer side to the character, especially in her interactions with Chris.

Louise Wright put in a good performance as Molly. There was humour in Louise’s performance, which she was able to shift with the realisation that she had been scammed out of her retirement. This was a delightful performance, full of humour and truth.

Jo Preston played Chris. This was a solid performance from Jo, bringing emotion to the character, especially in the revelation of the coercive abuse that the character was suffering from. This was an understated performance from Jo, which worked well alongside the other characters.

Samantha-Jane Twigg played Lottie. There was a nice character arc, which Samantha-Jane played well. Lottie came across as quite an unlikeable character to begin with, but the character soon softened, which Samantha-Jane was able to show well.

Lesley Hall played Alice. This was a quieter member of the team, and Lesley played her well. It was nice having a character like Alice in contrast to the leading trio. Her speech in Act Two when talking about the death of her husband was perfectly pitched by Lesley.

Andrew Kenny played Phil. Andrew was a confident member of the cast, and portrayed this character well. The reveal of Phil’s new girlfriend was funny and well played by Andrew.

Ruth Gosney admirably stood in for Jayne Dittrich as Karen. It’ll be unfair to comment on Ruth’s performance as she was just reading in, but well done for stepping up and allowing the production to go ahead.

Josh Gosney played Fingers. Josh played the comedy well as the inept shoplifter, hilariously called Fingers. Josh was fully committed to this role.

Barbara Hebden was fully committed to the character of Betty. She physically embodied this elderly character.

Overall, this was an enjoyable production. There were some good performances, plenty of laughs, and a solid piece of new writing.

A big thank you to everyone at Soup Productions for their kind invite and hospitality.

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