Eight Seconds by Stephen Scheurer and A Little Box of Oblivion by Stephen Bean

It was lovely to receive a wonderful personal greeting from your new chair Karen and to be invited back by your busy company to review your one act plays.

Eight Seconds

The stage was set with and table with magazines stage left and steps down to the hall, the prompt was seated stage right. When the curtain opened, we were presented on the left was a doctor’s waiting room with three seats and an entertaining notice board, someone had obviously spent time creating relating notices to conditions, well thought out! Stage right was the doctors consulting room with a table and chairs certificates and a clock on the wall and a computer on the desk. These rooms were separated by a usable door.

The Front of house lighting bar had four spotlights and Fresnel’s at the front of the stage. There were other lights above the stage. These were effectively used and controlled from the back of the hall for both plays and the changes from the waiting room to the consulting room were prompt. The sound, which was delivered through speakers on stage left and right, was set at appropriate level it was just a shame for all those actors who were working hard on stage that the noise from the social club permeated through the wall.

The costumes were modern and suited all the characters portrayed.

Eight Seconds is a play based around the interaction of patients with an old school doctor and a more modern general practitioner. Dr Gordon Bryson, a locum, portrayed doctors of old who favoured short consultations with patients, made snap decisions, wrote prescriptions and moved onto the next patient and Dr Lydia Neal who preferred the more modern approach of listening to the patient to ascertain their problem before attempting to find a solution as she said ‘the average doctor interrupts the patient after eight seconds when if they let them speak for longer, they’d glean valuable information’. This was a wordy play with some comic moments. We had consultations, conflict, confusion and eventually conclusions when all was revealed.

The actor playing Joan Cartwright did so with conviction. She had so many speeches to deliver and did so brilliantly pulling out every nuance and expected and unexpected aspects of the character. Her comic timing was great as could be attested by the laughter from the audience.

Nicole Giles was certainly a complex part to play as we found as the story developed. Some of her words were a little quiet but she certainly put Dr Bryson in his place.

Considering he took on the role at short notice the artist playing Gordon did an excellent job. He was brusque and dismissive of the patients and used items in his hands to conceal the script and his occasional glances looked like he was reading information. Congratulations.

The young lady who portrayed Sophie Robinson demonstrated her raw emotion and clearly with encouragement explained her worries to the doctor.

The last player in this one act was Doctor Lydia Neal, she was the voice of reason throughout the piece. She calmed the patients and suggested alternative methodology to the locum. She did have a few slip ups with her words which is not surprising considering the amount she had to say but try not to look so concerned when it happens.

 

A Little Box of Oblivion

The stage was set up as a park for this play with a backdrop and legs plants around the front, a bin and two benches the one at the back on stage left is broken. The lighting and sound were as before except for the birdsong and the costumes were correct.

This absurd play focuses on a box which was placed next to a stranger on a park bench, giving strict instructions not to move, knock, tilt or open it and then he rushes off. Passers-by speculate about the contents of the box and what should be done with it. Was it a bomb, deadly anthrax or perhaps a severed head? At last exasperated by all these opinionated people she shakes and rattles the box only to be scolded by the returning man who reveals all.

The actor who played Cool was excellent. She moved effortlessly around the stage and delivered her lines in a clear, direct way with lots of expression. She showed her vexation with the other members of the cast as they came up with absurd ideas. Congratulations.

Man played a small part in the play but did so with conviction. He moved quickly around the stage giving his instructions to Cool when delivering the box and showed his displeasure when returning and finding out what had happened.

Neuro’s portrayal reminded me in her stance and mannerisms of Dandy Nicolls in her role as Else Garnett. She trusts the information given to her by the government, was never out of character and her phone conversations were brilliant. A great characterisation.

The next player certainly had the correct name, Doom. He unquestionable was a doom merchant who produced a doom-laden performance relating back again to the government leaflet referred to by Neuro, his tone and manner were great. Nothing could shake his belief that the box contained a package of deadly anthrax, he could even smell the it.

The last actor to join the group and voice an opinion about the contents of the box was Dick who used his detective skills to eliminate the other’s ideas and declares his own thoughts about the contents of the box. He delivered his lines clearly with expression.

This was a well-directed piece of theatre which was appreciated by the audience.

Many thanks for an entertaining evening of one act plays for a small company you certainly work hard to create live theatre for the local community.  

Disclaimer 

Any observation made by the reviewer can only be based on what he sees at the performance in question.  The reviewer may have received information in advance of the performance and it is inevitable that his assessment will be affected by that knowledge. 

The NODA Representative’s intention is to give an objective critique of the overall production and in particular, the performance.  It should be remembered that any review of this nature can only be objective as far as the techniques used during the performance observed.  Any criticisms expressed may not have been valid at other performances and are only made to encourage higher standards in Amateur Theatre. 

 It is hoped that the audience’s appreciation of your efforts will have given everyone a lift and encouraged you to greater achievements in the future and that the observations made by the reviewer will prove helpful in improving future productions.

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