Kiss M Quickstep

Amanda Whittington, it seems, is all about people. Her plays don’t seem to contain a message or a huge story thread, more micro stories about particular characters and relationships. That means that the audiences connection and engagement with any of her plays relies heavily upon the actors’ portrayals.

Maccelsfield Amateur Operatic Society definitely managed to manifest those things in their production.

Set in the world of ballroom dancing and the competitions and pro/am dance rituals that entails, it covers ambition, betrayal, grief, love, obsession and more, but through the fun, trials and tribulations of 3 couples and 1 parent. With it being set within this world there was an obvious demand for the actors to dance. It would be rather difficult to find 6 non-professional actors who were also ballroom enthusiasts and indeed the MADS performers were not all comfortable on the dancefloor, but it didn’t matter, once that was established, there seemed to be a gauze suspended over those sections that we the audience, all bought into. It was a case of… “This is depicting a dance heat.”  moment…rather than “Wow, look at the footwork!” moment. This concept could have been explored further and a more abstract solution found, but that is but an observation rather than a criticism or suggestion – what MADS produced, worked and some effective choreography was tackled.

And so to the players in the piece, the contestants. We first meet the couple Nancy and Luka. The jigsaw couple, put together in order to get ahead in the competitions. Luka played by Sean David, a Russian dancer who looks the part and gives a consistently accented delivery throughout, worked well with Claire Taylor as Nancy and had some convincing contentious moments with her dad, Mick played by Peter Brassington. I would have liked Luka to have lifted the physical and vocal energy to meet his co-performer’s vigour but a lovely rendition non-the-less. Claire as Nancy was delightfully endearing and even her moment of playing defiance encapsulated what Claire had established as this slightly dim but benevolent character.

Peter’s performance as the earthy, and self-made, wealthy Mick was perfectly placed. The inner turmoil and subtext were played out in a considered way and Peter displayed a great level of studied focus. A nice snapshot of character-based comedy too, great facial expression and timing.

The reigning champions, Samantha and Lee played by Megan Brown and Peter Nixon were a great contrast. It was a nice palpable difference to feel the haughtiness when they entered the fray. They, as a couple, managed to keep that feeling in the group scenes, on the dance floor and that made the private dressing room scenes even more interesting. They both handled the “unsaid” storylines really well and the tension was convincing. As was the resigned atmosphere at the end of the play. It was nice to witness a realistic unseaming of a partnership, rather than one argumentative or violent in nature. Well done for creating those dynamics.

The strongest couple for me, on the night, was Jodie and Justin given by Amy Leech and Christopher Dunn. These two were just so absorbing. Their delivery completely natural but with the comedy and awareness needed to entertain. Their relationship was wholly authentic, the bickering plausible in their voices, the nuances explored and even the warm-up or ritualistic mimes were believable. They embodied their characters and used a plethora of comedic skills to create interest and a layered couple portrayal. Congratulations. Fantastic moves too Amy!

The direction of the piece was in the capable hands of Luke Oldham, there was flow and pace and the relationships explored in detail. The space was utilised well, and all corners exploited. The zoned areas and use of the chandelier to denote when the dancers had taken to the floor were nice touches. It had heart and sentimentality but celebrated the comedy too. Well done!

MADS is a great theatre producing some fabulous and exciting work and although the set design was simple and sufficient for the piece, perhaps moving forward, some innovative ideas may be allowed to creep into this area to enable the overall look to reach the high standard of the acting, directing, other tech and costume designs.

A thoroughly enjoyable evening was Kiss Me Quickstep, full of great performances and direction, heart and hard worked endeavours. To quote Mick regarding the word ‘amateur’ would be fitting to describe MADS, “…that’s a rank not a judgement!”

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