Deckchairs

‘Deckchairs’ is a series of duologues, by Jean McConnell, all set near the seaside and played by ladies. Each scene portrays differing circumstances and the good, and not so good, relationships between the performers. The set was kept simple with two benches on the stage, but used well and enhanced with the use of suitable props. ‘Shoppers’ is the first scene, and the characters Rosemary and Angela, played by Sarah & Gina respectively, meet on the benches on the esplanade to await their lifts home. Whilst waiting they discuss the various items they have in their shopping bags, vying for who has the best. Extremely funny, especially with the twist at the end. Next we had ‘Early Blight’ about the relationship between Mother & Daughter, Helen & June (Ali & Gina), and their deeper personalities. The actors expertly played the roles demonstrating the resentment, bullying and excuses built up over a period of time. The final scene in the first half was ‘Theatrical Digs’, again set near the beach, this time on the esplanade, near the pier. Pascaline (Sarah) is appearing in the summer show at the Pier Theatre, and meets Maggie (Ali), an aging actress who initially doesn’t reveal her past, whilst taking a break from the theatre. Eventually Maggie has had enough of Pascaline’s bragging and puts her in her place. After the interval we are introduced to Sarah and Elizabeth (Sarah & Gina) in ‘Remember Me’ set at a wedding reception the two women, who shared a flat years before, meet up despite trying to avoid each other. Sarah eventually takes the opportunity to tell Elizabeth what she thinks of her past actions. Finally we have ‘Cupboard Love’ and this time the two women, Peggy & Jane (Ali & Sarah) are exercising to keep fit and lose some weight, whilst hiding from their mutual personal trainer during a jogging session. Their conversation highlights that they have many common interests including food, cooking and men! During this conversation, interspersed with bouts of jogging, it dawns on them that their individual ‘gentleman friend’ is one and the same man that they are seeing on alternate days and every other Sunday. So they decide to seek retribution, giving a sense of unity & girl power. I thought the scenes were very well directed by Lloyd Perry with some excellent attention to detail throughout, and the right amount of humour brought out. The three performers had a mountain of dialogue to learn and achieved it with great aplomb – well done! All in all this was a very enjoyable production, my first visiting this Society and, I look forward to seeing many more.

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