Confusions

The warm greeting from the front of house staff at The Grange Playhouse was followed by an evening of five short one Act dramatisations that followed seamlessly on from each other, offering moments of hilarity as well as thought provocation about human behaviour in different circumstances, with some reflections about underlying issues of loneliness and need for companionship.

Director, Dawn Vigurs, ensured there was little interruption between scene changes, that there was well thought out detail in characterisations and sufficient pace to keep the audience engaged with effective timing during interactions. Each set had minimal furniture, yet necessary and key to the dialogue and setting in each Act. Nothing detracted the audience from focussing on the clarity of the characters, the interaction between them, their plight and status in each drama. The number of lighting changes was considerable in the entirety of the evening’s performance, carefully planning and arrangements ensured characters were consistently and accurately lit and fully visible throughout the evening.

The food served in the hotel dining room in “Between Mouthfuls” is worth mentioning for its apparently authenticity and attention to detail. The lobster certainly looked quite real, and the cork from the wine added realism to the table settings.

Characterisation was strong amongst the players, variety and versatility demonstrated among the cast. Players transformed themselves faultlessly into difference roles, aided in some cases by different hairpieces and wigs and costumes were appropriate. Varied voice tones, gesture and expressions delivered with a degree of ease, supported portrayals in most Acts and clever timing added conviction.

The first Act focused on a mother of two, Lucy, played so ably by Jill Simkin, as a tired but self-absorbed insular mother of two young children. So entrenched as a motherly figure, she adopted assertive directives towards an unlikely couple from next door who had called in.  Neighbours Rosemary and Terry, played by Joanne James and Robert Onions, got drawn into being treated like children, drinking milk with the comic orders not to quarrel.

The second Act that followed included ‘Lucy’s husband Harry, a seducer played by Dominic Holmes. The scene spotlighted on Harry adopting futile powers of persuasion to entice the attention and invitation of Bernice and Paula to his room, room 249, which he emphasised several times. The nonchalant response by these ladies towards Harry was predictable at times, but also highlighted how very deluded and possibly lonely he was in contrast, despite the fact that he was married.

 During Act Three, attention was directed to the verbal exchanges, in turn, between couples sat at different tables with a very professional, upright, calm, unperturbed waiter, played masterfully by Roger Shepherd, who ignored the escalating tensions between parties about an affair and carried on serving his diners oblivious of their emotional outbursts.

The fourth Act had a backdrop of a tea tent on a wet afternoon at a village fete. The pace was pedestrian at first but soon accelerated after Milly had confessed she was pregnant, unknowingly broadcast for all to hear on the amplifier, including her partner, the Scout leader and the Vicar. The sequence of events that followed led to frenzied happenings, slapstick style, with the Vicar unable to switch off the urn and duly electrifying the invited speaker, Mrs Pearce, a Councillor played by Joanne James. Joanne presented this role brilliantly.

The Final Act was the most poignant. It presented five different individuals on four different park benches, each wrapped up in their own world and so wanting to talk to the person next to them. In each case the ‘listener’ wanted to move away and detach himself or herself from the communicator. Clever use of timing and still image created impact.

This was an enjoyable evening of light drama presenting all the actors ample opportunity to show versatility in a wide variety of different characterisations with most appearing in up to, or, in all five different dramas in one complete performance without a hitch

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