Last Tango in Little Grimley and Last Panto in Little Grimley

Little Grimley is apparently a small town ‘somewhere in the north of England’ and I think it’s somewhere that was potentially familiar to a lot of the audience.  These two hilarious one act plays explore the challenges faced by a small (actually very small) amateur theatre society who in the first play ‘Last Tango in Little Grimley’ are trying to stave off the bailiffs by producing a play (written by the Societies Chairman and Director) about the intimate happenings in the town quite literally featuring the butcher, the baker and the vicar!  In the second play, buoyed by the positive uptake of their steamy chronicle, the group embark upon their next venture – to put on a sex panto in Little Grimley.  Anyone involved in amateur theatre will appreciate the writing that goes into these plays as it is very accurate, but also requires skill to get this across to the audience.

Joe Greco directed both pieces and must have enjoyed working with these actors who were actors playing their part. Chris Harrison, making his debut with St Austin’s, takes on the role of Gordon, the Chairman and Director, who has decided to write plays, laced with sexual innuendo, to seek to pull the Society out of the  doldrums.  Gordon is clearly frustrated with his fellow committee members and their limited efforts to keep the group going.   Harrison did a great job of playing the part and had just the right level of angst and enthusiasm to support his fellow thespians and their failing society.

Katy Ryan playing Margaret and was excellent as the teacher by day and am dram diva by night.  With wonderful comic timing and caustic delivery of some very funny lines Ryan was spot on and made sure we knew that Margaret would never let the society down.  In the final scene she turns up dressed as a Pantomime Principal boy, but with both a broken leg and broken arm - wonderful.  Joanna Jackson took the role of librarian, Joyce.  Her insistence on wanting to perform a musical was very funny and her repeated attempts to sing songs as a form of encouragement to her reluctant friends raised more than a laugh or two.  The scenes where she looks at her notes with a high degree of puzzlement whilst trying to take the minutes of committee meetings resulted in some very funny facial expressions.

The part of Bernard, the Stage Manager, (come set builder, painter, and sound engineer and manager of the problematic lighting) was taken by Gareth Wilby.  His reluctance to take on roles in the plays was very real and Wilby did a great job of convincing the audience that he clearly wished to be anywhere other than on the stage.  All four actors worked well together and had been excellently cast.  There was great diction and good use of the space.

The same set was used for both plays, with few props and sparse bits of scenery leant against the walls and was very appropriate for a rehearsal room.  Additional pieces of stage furniture were added to the set and again they were perfect for the plays.  Costumes were relevant for the production and the pantomime costumes were especially accurate in terms of what such a small society, on a very limited budget, would be able to acquire.  Well done to the stage management, set build team and wardrobe.  The professional lighting and sound added to the atmosphere, particularly in the second play when the lights are indeed a feature of the storyline.

Congratulations to the production team, cast and crew – it was great to see St Austin’s Players back on stage and with such a super double-bill – hopefully they will bring more of Little Grimley to Wakefield.

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