Curtain Up

There is a lovely irony and truth to seeing this play in a small venue like the Pinewood Theatre still waiting for its lease to be secured from the council and run by a close community like EBOS. It also provides good opportunities for a group of actresses to show a wide range of emotions and characterisations while having fun of putting on a show. It is not a perfect play but the strong parallels between its story and the challenges of amateur theatres and the all-female cast make it a good choice for societies. 

EBOS again delivered an entertaining and funny show while still drawing out well the tensions and rivalries in this group of women and the different coping mechanisms for grief over the death of Michael. The Aerobics class scene in Act 1 and New York, New York routines were well choreographed and executed with commitment and humour providing show highlights. 

The simple set was effective with the neatly stencilled lettering showing Stalls and Circle entrances and four posters for the Alhambra Theatre setting the location well and there were some excellent sound effects to help establish offstage activity.

It was great to something different that was fun and amusing but still had a strong underlying message about grief and volunteering. It was good to see the clever way the relationships evolved and this gave the five actresses the challenge to show a range of acting skills which they rose to well.

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