Curtain Up!

With many societies struggling to recruit male members it is only natural that some choose to present productions that can do without them, this being the case with Curtain Up!

The plot centres around the bequeath of a theatre by the deceased owner to five women who have been close to him during his life – his mother Betty (played by Pat Hughes), his first wife Pam (Liz Edwards), daughter Theresa (Oprah Kitchen), Sharon, his punk personal assistant (Marina Spark) and his “other” woman Jackie (played by Helen Nichols).

Feelings run pretty high between the five interested parties as they try to plan and execute the restoration of the theatre to it’s former heights, the highlight being a special appearance by Shirley Bassey.  Needless to say she doesn’t turn up and we are left with Pam trying to do a stand in job, with disastrous, but comical, results.

I do not believe that the script itself is brilliant, resorting to a rabbit costume and the giving of the deceased’s ashes as a raffle prize for laughs.  Some of the dialogue was quite tough but all the performers approached their characters enthusiastically throughout and they did extract as much comedy as they could from the play.  At times the action seemed a little slow and static but, again, I don’t think the script helped.

The set was excellent and there was good use of stage furniture.  However I thought that there could perhaps have been more costume changes for some of the characters.

However, there were some good, convincing, performances thus ensuring that the audience felt part of the action throughout.

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