Fight Them for the Beeches

I would like to thank St Nicolas players for their hospitality and the warm welcome afforded me by David Whipps the deputy stage manager, and Michelle Collins, in her first venture into co-directing.

 Fight Them for the Beeches by Kathy Reid is a new play by a relatively unknown writer, written for her local society in Berkshire. It concerns the struggle of the residents of an old people’s home to halt the sale of their residence when the owner, Lord John Cornwallis dies in mysterious circumstances, and his scheming spoilt brat of a son Lord Christopher (played by the director Glen Barker) inherits. The cast consists of five residents : The Colonel , played à la Captain Mainwaring, by Nick Fletcher; Walker,  a spry elderly gentleman with an eye for the ladies, played by the (much younger) Adam Patman; Iris, the “Brains” of the residents, played by Mandie Collier; Cassandra, a cookie new age spiritualist, played by Lynn Kirk; and the new, much younger (and rather mysterious) resident of the home Georgina, played by Kelly Taylor. Lady Cornwallis was played by Beverley Moore. The staff of the residence are represented by the Manager, Sam Harris (played by Paul Gilbert) who is crippled with shyness about his feelings for one of the carers, Honey Potter, played by Emma Gilbert.

The whole cast showed great skill in their acting and characterization.

The box set, designed and built by St. Nicolas players skillful team, was wonderful, with foldback leaves and pull-outs to represent cleaning cupboards and Lady Cornwallis’ bedroom. I loved all the concealed hiding places for bottles of alcohol which were produced at various points, including a bottle of champagne in the final scene, which was used to shower the audience.

Lighting and sound were spot-on (pardon the pun), and wardrobe and make-up were excellent. I particularly liked Cassandra’s hippy-style gowns and harem trousers. Stage management was excellent.

The programme is well presented, interesting and informative, and qualifies for consideration for the regional prize.

I think there are problems with the play-- the story is fine and amusing but it badly needs the attention of a good editor. There was a lot of repetition which I think gave the cast difficulties on at least one occasion. The characters at times seemed like caricatures, which I understand is how the writer has written it. I believe that the directors decided to take this and ramp up the caricatures to bring out the humour as much as possible.

Despite my reservations about the play, I think the directors, Glen and Michelle, and the society have done a good job in pulling together an entertaining play, despite a lot of problems with illness during the rehearsal period.

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