Entertaining Angels

Buscot Park Theatre really is an extraordinarily lovely venue, and Faringdon Dramatic Society chooses its plays for this theatre wisely.  You walk up to the house through attractive parkland with its sweeping vistas, and find that the spring evening feeling has been carried into the building and onto the stage. “Entertaining Angels” was an excellent choice of show as it is wholly set in the garden of a rectory, and this study of loss, regret and forgiveness is very well suited to such an intimate space.

The principal protagonist is Grace, who is mourning her late husband and parish priest Bardolph.  You’d think she’d be able to find some peace for reflection in a rectory garden, but no.  Her sister Ruth is mowing the grass, her daughter Jo is dealing with the post, and the new vicar Sarah is measuring up prior to moving in to the house.  Never mind reflection, Grace finds that she is unable even to complete a conversation on her mobile.  The situation is complicated by the fact that Bardolph’s spirit haunts the potting shed, and while the audience and Grace can see and hear him, the other characters evidently can’t.  Ruth, recently returned from missionary work in Africa, has a terrible secret which she feels compelled to share, while Sarah is experiencing doubts about whether or not she should take up this, her first pastoral position in the church.  And nobody is particularly good at communicating what they are thinking and feeling.

A lack of excess was a hallmark of the whole production which, quite appropriately, was an exercise in understatement.  This was a gentle study of an ordinary yet extraordinary situation, ordinary people caught up in an extraordinary moment in their lives.  You don’t need emotional fireworks in a small, intimate venue like Buscot Park Theatre; you just need to tell your story well, make your characters relatable, and engage the audience in their trials and tribulations.  And that’s exactly what the director and the company did.

It’s a compact stage, but the set design accommodated all the required components - potting shed, lawn, garden bench, patio and river bank.  The lighting conjured up summer afternoons, while the soundtrack combined evensong (“Abide with me”, “The day thou gravest”) with an affectionate nod to female vicars in rural parishes (Howard Goodall’s “The Lord is my Shepherd”, aka The Vicar of Dibley) and some atmospheric birdsong.  Costumes were well suited to the various characters, from Grace’s elegant skirts and blouses to Sarah’s dungarees and cassock, and there were changes of outfit to reflect the passage of time.

What a pleasure it was to stand outside the East Pavilion of Buscot House on a fine evening, and reflect on amateur theatre in general and this production in particular.  Faringdon Dramatic Society is lucky to be able to stage plays here, and they know exactly how to find the magic in this wonderful venue; this thought-provoking study of love and loss, honesty and regret, grief and forgiveness was perfectly suited to its surroundings.

© NODA CIO.  All rights reserved.

© NODA CIO. All rights reserved.