Life Begins at 50

This was a completely new play to me and I congratulate the Players on finding yet another gem.  Director Martyn Williams got every nuance and comedy line from the extremely well written script.

Jill Snelling, celebrating 25 years with this society, gave a well-defined portrayal of the cynical housewife Anita Debanks; whose life was so busy she didn’t have time for her hapless husband Clive, nicely played by Gary Patmore.  Clive, on the other hand is approaching 50 and going through the male menopause, as he seeks to recover his lost youth by trying to have an affair.  He is supported by his best friend Jack (Michael McFarlane) and Anita has her best friend Clare (Pauline Crowhurst) to aid and abet her.

Clive encourages three ladies, who have advertised in the local paper’s lonely hearts column, to visit him whilst his wife is away and there were some lovely comedy moments when these three turn up one after another.  To complicate matters further (well this is a traditional farce) the local paper is also running a competition to find Mr and Mrs Perfect and Anita has entered herself and Clive to win the holiday of a lifetime.   So the paper’s photographer turns up to take picture of the happy couple and, inevitably, takes pictures of the wrong lady.  Vic Gray played the photographer with perfect timing and great stage presence, lifting the production to another level.

Suffice to say that the plot got more complicated as the play progressed and the denouement was beautifully written and performed by the whole cast.  The supporting actors all gave believable performances in this well rounded production.

The scenery was excellent, where did they get that wallpaper?  I was a little disappointed at the length of time between each scene when the audience were left sitting in the dark listening to music.  Unfortunately it slowed the pace down every time and made the production a little disjointed.   As this was a standing set and the only changes were set dressing and costumes I would have appreciated them being done a little quicker to maintain the momentum.   Nowadays it is acceptable for scene changes to be done “in view” and this might have made it seem less fragmented.

The background music was well selected and appropriate and the costumes were current period and looked good.  I would, perhaps have avoided having the two ladies in similar dresses but, perhaps, that was deliberate.

Another good farce from The Thurrock Courts Players, well done.

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