Dying For It

Dying For It”, written by Moira Buffini, makes a mockery of the hardship the people of Russia were facing during the time of Stalin. Their life was very hard, with high unemployment, food and fuel shortages, rudimentary cooking facilities and free speech becoming an offence.

The open set design on stage clearly indicated that poverty was to play an important role in the plot and this was reinforced by the semi-darkness provided by the lighting. This was a well-directed production with twelve talented actors whose first-class performances brought out the humour as well as the distressing sides of life in Russia.

Their characterisations, mannerisms, and deliverance of dialogue, right down to the pronunciations of the names of their fellow Russians, were excellent. It was a complex storyline and the physical action, from the beginning of the play to the end, never stopped.  The pace and diction from everyone were excellent.

The main character, Semyon, is unemployed and struggling with life and his wife, Masha, goes out to work and earns just enough money to pay for their food. After an argument with Masha, he decides to end it all by killing himself but just can’t make the final decision to go through with it or not. Various characters from all walks of life appear and they convince him that he would be doing it for the people of Russia and become a martyr to their cause.

Christy Fitzsimons was tremendous in the colossal role of Semyon and literally threw himself into the character with copious amounts of dialogue and action. An outstanding performance from Christy. Hollie Warman was superb in the role of Semyon’s wife, Masha, whose character displayed varying emotions from a loving, caring wife through to sheer rage.

Masha’s mother, Serafima; what a wonderful and sarcastic character and a truly annoying mother-in-law to Semyon. She thought that if he wanted to kill himself, he should just go ahead and do it. Sue Burgess’s comic timing and facial expressions were terrific, even when she was not delivering her lines.

Alexander is a guy who loves the ladies and is always ready to make money by letting people know of Semyon’s intentions and charging them accordingly. But he does have a good side to him - another brilliant performance from Ryan Pugh. One of his lady friends is the beautiful and sophisticated Margarita. Her look and attitude said that she did not have money problems, and this was expertly portrayed and acted out by Iona Watson.  

All the characters have different personalities, especially Yegor, who constantly reminds everyone that he has “won the award for being the most efficient postman”. Jack Hewitt was brilliant in making skilful entrances and exits, occasionally delivering a one-liner with great timing. Some very funny scenes. Jack Underwood gave an outstanding performance as Aristarkh. His mannerisms, bravura and strutting around the stage well suited this character as someone who lived for the Communist Party.

Kleopatra is a very sultry lady who just loves to be with her men friends. She falls in love with Semyon and gives him another reason to kill himself. Agnetha Louis Spencer certainly brought this sexy lady to life with an amazing stage presence and style. Father Yelpioy is a caricature of Rasputin and Ian Whitehead was magnificent in this role. He had the audience trembling with his bellowing and religious hell-and-damnation voice.  

To ensure that everyone in Russia knew of the sacrifice Semyon was making, it had to be written down for prosperity and the person to do this was the very flamboyant writer, Viktor, played with such panache by Sash Steele. Another very good performance.

Elise Freshwater-Blizzard and Hannah Pamplin had various roles, including two very comical undertakers. It is not an easy task to move a coffin around on a small stage, but these two actors were priceless and with excellent timing.

As always, The Dilys Guite Players’ productions are first-class and very professionally presented. Excellent direction, acting and great attention to the set, costumes, lighting, and sound by an amazing team, all made this an outstanding production.

Thank you for the invite and hospitality and, as always, a great night out at the theatre.

Sue Cox – Drama Rep Region 14

NODA N.E.

 

 

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