Curtain Call

Curtain Call is a very well written comedy by Bettine Manktelow, it is the second of a trilogy by the author. The Theats are performing for the first time in the new Bonkers Playhouse Theatre. Curtain Call is set in the manager’s office of the Thurlow Playhouse and all the action takes place over a period of one day when the cash-strapped theatre is hoping to receive a grant from the Arts Council …

The plays director, Luke Campbell Simcoe has expertly staged Curtain Call with eight perfectly cast actors and some good paced action.

The very pessimistic theatre manager, Alex Partridge, was played by James Wallace who had a terrific, well-sustained accent and had great comic timing. Jenny Wallace gave an excellent performance as Doreta Mason with lots of well-timed comedy and had perfect diction. There was a much improved performance from Martin Brown as Murphy who developed his character very well and gave the audience some hilarious moments. Rosie Dean in the role of Rita gave an excellent, confident and very funny performance. Steven Whitney gave a very strong and forceful portrayal of the character, Clarence Mason. Another excellent and well-timed performance came from Samantha Stockley in her role as Valerie. Lauren Funis too gave a very good and strong performance as Lulu Lynchpin. Katrina Ruffea gave a very controlled and well-defined portrayal of the role of Ms Murdstone. One of my favourite moments was the scene in act 2 between Mrs Mason and Rita which was a very intense and well-acted scene. Well done to all eight actors you interacted with each other very well throughout the play and you all gave quality performances.

The set for this production was excellent and was very well-dressed. The props were all very good and well-utilised. The costumes were all good and in keeping with the piece. The lighting and sound quality was excellent throughout.

Congratulations Theats for this very funny and highly entertaining production. This was your opening night and it was really well-received by the audience and there were no obvious problems. Thank you for a wonderful evening. I look forward very much to seeing the third in this trilogy!  

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