Labour Pains

Many thanks to the Bispham Castaways for inviting me along to see their production of Labour Pains, performed at Holy Family Catholic Church Hall, on Saturday the 23rd of September 2023. This was a one act comedy play written by Rachael Ashworth. It tells the story of a young couple approaching the due date of their pregnancy of their first child and we meet varying members off both side of their families, the comedy is brought about through various scenarios arranged around their individual personalities. 

The piece was directed by Haley Price who did a phenomenal job of creating a vibrant, high-energy show, which used variance of pace, tone & spacing to ensure the audience was engaged & invested throughout. I loved the ejection of energy into the entrances characters, which heightened the urgency & drama of the next section. There was a great mix of physical slapstick comedy, character driven humour & moments of naturalism, allowing the text to do its own work. There was a nice contrast brought out between the characterisations, some naturalistically played, with others a little larger than life, which again added interest to the piece. The stage which is at the church hall is quite small, but Hayley maximised its usage through continually finding new ways of organising and arranging the actors to ensure the play remained continually visually interesting work. 

The design elements of the production were to a good standard. The stage was decorated to reflect a naturalistic living room, with 2 functional doors serving as entrance and exit points, one leading to the bedroom and the other a front door. Costumes were authentic to the characters and interwoven into the plot where necessary and reflected the characters well. I particularly loved the rainbow vibrancy of Mel, which was continued through to her glitter infused footwear. Lighting was a simple flood, but nothing more was needed, the sound was amplified by 2 suspended overhead mics, which worked a charm as all dialogue was heard clearly. 

The lead, pregnant couple, Helen & Dave were played by Charlie Towers & Martin Thompson who did fabulous playing these 2 characters naturalistically. There was nice energy & rapport between them & they bounced off each other well. There was great internalisation from both of this pair, which contrasted with the other characters on stage & with the periodic emotional outbursts from Helen in line with the drama in line with the plot. 

Helen Findlay played Carolyn, the midwife, who was also strong playing this role in a naturalistic style. She held the pace well and drove forwards the scenes she was in. 

Helen’s mother, Jeanie, was played by Jane Squire & was portrayed as a larger than life, extravagant extrovert, whose bubbly charisma filled the space with positivity & finesse. There were many moments of minutia idiosyncrasies which grounded the character slightly, but there was not a moment she did not radiate onstage.  

Jeanie’s cooky sister, Mel, was played by Susan Hope, again, a larger-than-life character with bags of charisma, but not overplayed or caricatured, providing a humorous realistic eccentric character who brought life and animation to the stage. 

Finally, we had Dave’s parents, Judith & Bob, played by Annie Duckworth & Dave Austin, who held these parts very well. A more reserved cluster of personalities than Jeanie & Mel, which served as an excellent contrast in pace & tone adding further depth to the production. 

Thanks again to the Bispham Castaways for inviting me to see this wonderful production. I was literally belly laughing, and I thank & applaude you for that. 

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