Comfort and Joy

This play ‘Comfort and Joy’ was written by Rochdale born playwright and entertainer Mike Harding in 1997, a fact which gave this production a homely familiar feel to it as it is set in Lancashire and has a number of references to the local area and places.

The curtains opened to reveal a very impressive set which must have taken a great deal of hard work to complete.  Here we were in the comfortable sitting room of Martin and Margaret’s Lancashire home. Congratulations to Kevin Rosental and the set builders, painters, properties sound and lighting for setting the scene so well.

 At the beginning of the play the action was a little slow due to the occasional stumbling over lines resulting in the loss of some very funny comic opportunities .However as the play moved on the actors settled into their roles cooperating well together with some very good characterisations and very funny performances, I found myself laughing quite loudly at times. Alan Pearson was very good as the original grumpy old man Goff and Alan Levesley as Martin who thought he could fix or buy anything for £5 usually with disastrous results, gave a good secure performance. Karen Miller was fittingly frustrated and provoked as Margaret his long suffering wife and Rebecca Dickinson got into the character of Helen their daughter very well .Moyra Welch as Goff’s daughter Fiona who is reunited with her father after a thirty year rift produced a very sound Australian accent with good diction, this meant her dialogue could be heard and easily followed. She was well matched with Rod Moore who gave a worthy performance as her husband Jimmy.

In the second act the cast were joined by two new very funny characters, these were Martin and Margaret's other London Based daughter Kathy played with Yuppie style by Zoe Hale and her artistic boyfriend Crispin played  superbly with very funny facial expressions and good comic timing by Robert Walsh, I particularly loved his chicken walk in the Charades. There were also four small cameo roles that were very comedic and well played these were Barry Ashworth as Chapman, Sharon Elder as Monica, Renee Clitheroe as Pat and Kevin Rosental as Hughie. We should also mention Sammi Offord and Eleanor Gibson as the carol singers who took the brunt of Goff’s frustration.

In the past I have highlighted in my reviews a lack of projection when speaking by some actors, but on this occasion voices were projected well which meant I could hear clearly the words spoken.  I must also congratulate the cast on their timing of the dialogue during the frequent loud laughing from the audience as none of the storey was lost which is essential for good comic acting. There was some colourful language (swearing) in this script but it did not feel out of place or gratuitous, although I think that there may have been a few more of these words included than was originally written. However it did not detract from my enjoyment of the play or the overall evening.

Congratulations to Director Kath Ashworth and producer Kath Townsend for a very funny, enjoyable production. Well done to everyone involved I really enjoyed the evening.

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