Local Affairs

The Barrington Theatre with its fairly large stage was the ideal venue for this comedy by Richard Harris. The action takes place in the living-room, bedroom and kitchen of three different houses on a new housing estate in the mid-1980s. The three individual sets had to look pretty neutral and the direction had to be spot on to create the feeling of three different homes.

The storyline centred on, a young couple having a weekend without their children, a more mature couple preparing for a fancy dress party and a middle age couple with a  an elderly Mother who won’t go home. Over the weekend the home owners get to know each other in ways they had never imagined

This was a very good production and I felt that the whole cast were excellent. The play had a good pace and generally the timing was perfect throughout. Without a doubt Veronica Ryder stole the show as Mrs Hinson, the Mother-in-Law from hell, but I thought Patrick D’Ardene as Charles, who seem to spend most of the play dressed as Marline Dietrich, came a close second.   

From the seats where we were sitting, front left of Centre, the television positioned at the front of the stage proved to be a bit of a blind spot and there were also several occasions that the actors in the centre living room set, were masking when action was taking place in the kitchen set. However, I have no doubt that if we had been sat further back in the auditorium it would not have been a problem

When performing a comedy you need an audience who will laugh. During a pre-show chat, I gathered that previous audiences may have been a little reserved as I was told that they were looking forward to having me in the audience, because I laugh out loud and it encourages the rest of the audience to join in. I may have had a few strange looks early on, but the auditorium was soon full of laughter and it continued throughout evening and I am sure the each and every member of the audience thought that this was a thoroughly enjoyable production

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