Evening of Bruce Kane Plays

In these unprecedented times The Florians took the bold step of putting on three live streamed performances of four short comedies by playwright Bruce Kane on consecutive evenings. The plays – based on fairy tales by the Brothers Grimm and Shakespeare and given a modern twist  - were rehearsed online under direction of Fiona Grant and the performances were presented online with colourful backdrops supplied by the technical wizardry of Geoff Burns who ensured the changes between the scenes performed by the individual characters in their homes were seamless. The first play – Mirror, Mirror – was a based on the popular fairy tale “Snow White”. Aileen Hendry played the wicked Stepmother full of her own conceit beautifully – relishing the change from her usual roles as principal boy in panto. Lisa Senior, playing her feisty stepdaughter also gave a very good performance. They were ably supported by Brian Howlett as the Mirror and Gareth Williams as Prince Charming. Gareth appeared in the second play – Under the Balcony (based on Romeo and Juliet) - as a lascivious and delightfully witty Casanova giving advice to Matthais Kramer’s infatuated Romeo on how to woo the offstage Juliet voiced by Aimee Vincent. The third play “Cindy and Julie” showed us how the romances of Cinderella and Juliet may have ended if they took place today – in the psychiatrist’s office – with a more worldly wise Cinderella (Lisa Senior) giving Juliet (Aimee Vincent) and another young woman with stars in her eyes (Aimee Ironside) the benefit of her experiences as a Princess! The fourth play “Ruby of Elsinore” finds us in the beauty salon of Elsinore Castle where the proprietress Ruby becomes the confidant of all the players in a modern day Hamlet. Morag Barron was a comic delight as she delivered some wonderful witty and sarcastic one liners to, and about, her Royal customers. Matthais Kramer gave a very strong performance as the troubled Hamlet as did Aimee Vincent as a misguided Ophelia. Christine Fletcher and Brian Howlett as Gertrude and Claudius gave very strong support as did Gareth Williams (in his third role of the evening) as the Ghost of Hamlet’s father. The series of plays was narrated by Rob Kenyon with just the right note of cynicism. Congratulations to everyone involved for a very entertaining evening.

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