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Jeeves and Wooster in Perfect Nonsense

Author: Foster Johnson

Information

Date
14th July 2017
Society
Westovian Theatre Society
Venue
Pier Pavilion South Shields
Type of Production
Farce
Director
Carrie Wilson

Once again the Westovians stepped up to the mark when they delivered a fun packed and hilarious interpretation of this Goodale Brothers farce. 

As everyone knows to deliver this type of theatrical genre it requires an intuitive Director who will allow the cast the freedom to express themselves and not be stereotyped by the characterisation portrayals of others who have played the roles in the theatre and television.

Under the fine direction of Carrie Wilson who allowed the cast such freedom of expression , and a play that was ideal for it, the cast of three were energetic, driven and the acting from the seasoned performers to the relative newcomer was brilliant. This was clearly evident as they played all 12 parts of the production between themselves and there was not one single occasion when they fell out of character. A feat in itself when alongside the multiple scene and costume changes they had.

The storyline itself was simple but clever and revolved around the attempted matchmaking skills of Wooster, ably supported by Jeeves, to pull off the wedding of the season between Madeline Basset and Gussie Fink-Nottle, or be forced to give up his bachelorhood and marry the girl himself.

So far as the cast itself is concerned Jack Young played the role of the clumsy, put upon and incident prone Bertie Wooster to perfection and as one would imagine him to be from the writings of P.G.Wodehouse.  He was on stage for the vast majority of the performance and delivered in every aspect in this anchor role.

Gary Manson has an impressive acting C.V. and this was enhanced yet again in the role of Jeeves and the other four parts he played in the production.  He used his interpretative repertoire to the full to give a clever and powerful performance, particularly in the scene where he played two different characters interacting with each other at same time.

Last but by no means least David Foster undertook the multiple roles of Seppings the Butler, Aunt Dahlia and four others. He always comes across as a bouncy and cheerful character and this is reflected in his performances. So it was again in this show.  His boundless energy, enthusiasm and characterisations, both in voice and movement were a delight.

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