Hoovering on the Edge

Many thanks to Poulton Drama for inviting me to their performance of Hilary Spiers’  ‘Hoovering on the Edge’ on Wednesday 14th June 2023 at Thornton Little Theatre 2023. The plot follows seven British women who decide to take an educational writing course in sunny Spain. The audience witness the development of their relationships over the course of the week.  

The show was directed by Ruth Anderson who helped create some interesting, often relatable, characters, which were for the most part naturalistically played, which was great as allowed the text and the honest reaction create the comedy within the piece. There were a couple of characters though which came across more caricatured, which to me read as inconsistent and think the play would have been funnier with a greater cathartic reaction with the audience with consistency with this. I was impressed with the creative staging, as no 2 scenes were positioned in the same way, which provided interest and animation. There were some nice, stylised moments within the show, such as the ‘acting out’ of the story line the group are working on to open the piece, which was echoed later in the narrative. The play ends with a sombre feel, as not all the group made it to the reunion six months later. I thought this moment was executed remarkably well, leaving resonance of the inbuilt messages to live for the moment and to value who and what we have within our lives. I also noted the use of stage crew being integrated into the action and added characterisations of waiters with their own dramas unravelling during the inter-scenes.  This was a nice touch and added to the light-hearted feel of the production, filling the void for some of the lengthy scene and costume changes. For me, I felt the piece could have been delivered with a little more momentum and pace with lines delivered quicker and snappier responses within dialogue.

The design and technical elements of the production worked well. The backdrop was a projected palm tree ridden beach scene, of which, the hue changed to match the time of day the scenes were set. Other element of setting worked well adding further context to the play, such as greenery decorated wicker fencing with signage to the guest rooms. Lighting and sound were of a good standard throughout. Costumes were provided by the cast themselves and were well selected, matching their respective characters.

All the cast did a wonderfully in bringing these vibrant, contrasting characters to life, which drove forward the witty storyline. In order of the programme:

Susan Haydock player the Magistrate character, Gwen, with a strong gravitas. I love the authority she delivered with when the character got a little cross, her tone became firmer and louder, but did not become shouty, a great way of portraying this character’s emotional maturity. I also noted the believability of Gwen’s thought processes and reactions on stage, which read very clearly to the audience.

Sue Wilkinson played Honor, who played the role as setting the character as setting herself above in a different social class from the other characters. I noted the word “fabulous” in my scribbles. She added some great local references into this notion, stating she is from ‘Lytham.’ I loved the character journey Sue took the character through as her pretences became diminished as she opened up to the group of her insecurities and struggles.

Rita was played quite humbly by Sharon Brookes. This was the character who passed away within the 6 months after the retreat. She played this character so sensitively with great integrity to her actions and reactions. She delivered wonderful insight into the character through detailed eye work and had a great energy and level of honesty throughout.

Sue was played by Beccy Hands who also brought great energy to the role. This character was a TV producer who was writing down the details of the trip on the sly with ambition to creating a docusoap from the experience. This was well delivered and when found out, I truly believed the guilt she felt and the no-malintent was translated well.

Moira was played by Jennier James who provided a good consistent characterisation to this prudish character. I felt at times more investment could have been delivered facially with reactions and more play provided with pace and rhythm of line delivery, but I adored the stunning honesty she brought to the last scene where she needed to inform the group that she had just been to Rita’s funeral.

Chris was played by Carol Coupe. Carol had a lovely presence onstage, but I was a little lost with this character, and am not sure if that was a result of Carol’s confidence. Great use of distractions were built into the role though, such as being on the phone, or keeping busy with other jobs. My advice to Carol would be to ground yourself further and own the characterisation with more certainty, you were fabulous onstage and would love to see you deliver more confidently.

Clare was played by Kat Arbuckle, who is a spiritual-centric meditation lover. I loved her investment to the character, especially physically and vocally. Although the character was wonderfully created, was very entertaining and read very well, I did feel that these characteristics were overly presented to the audience, almost in a Brechtian way, resulting in the character not landing as realistic, which detached me from investing in the character’s journey.

Finally, Gareth was performed by Mason Forrest who delivered well portraying this awkward yet endearing character. I loved the translation of the character improvising his way through leading the course. He provided a high energy, likable character, animated with idiosyncratic mannerisms which echoed the characters false confidence.

Thanks again for inviting my guest and I to this fabulous show. Another great piece of work from Poulton Drama and I look forward to Blackadder II later this year.

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