Lord Arthur Savile's Crime

This was an extremely entertaining evening and well supported by the local community. This was the second night of the latest offering, from Wombourne Players, of a period drama based on an Oscar Wilde short story with a preposterous plot.

Experienced director, Sarah Aldridge, (who also played the role of Sybil), skilfully brought to life this semi comic mystery, bringing to life some intriguing,’ larger than life’ characterisations and yet retaining a reserved, Victoriana element from the opening scene to the final one. It was a large, well-rehearsed cast, diction was clear and the pace was swift. The stage manager, Catherine Hammond, and crew ensured scene changes were fluid and effects superbly handled.

The set focused on the drawing room of Lord Arthur’s home, with double doors at either end of the stage, a fireplace, a winged chair and a small sofa. Notable attention to detail is a strength of Wardrobe, attributed to Melanie Lockley. Every scene saw each of the ladies, resplendent in beautiful satin and chiffon dresses in various vibrant colours coordinated with evening gloves and headwear. The male cast was in 1900 attire too, which included Bains, the butler, in full morning suit. Lighting and sound were appropriate, with effects timely planned.

The plot was about Lord Arthur (Steve Poole), who was set to marry Miss Sybil Merton (Sarah Aldridge). Sybil’s mother. Lady Julia Merton (Karen Evans), wished to ensure Arthur was a suitable match for her daughter by insisting Arthur had his palm read by Mr Podges (Hannah Poole), to see if his past, present or future revealed any skeletons in the cupboard. Podges revealed after Arthur’s palm was read, that whilst there was nothing in his past that was cause for concern, his future indicated blood, suggesting he was destined to commit murder. Lord Arthur desired a happy married life and felt duty bound to postpone the wedding so he could get the murder over with first. The wedding was postponed and much of the action in the play was centred around Lord Arthur hatching plans to kill off members of his family with the help from his trusty butler, Baines (Joe Dudley). Attempt after attempt failed and this included trying to poison his great aunt, Lady Clementina (Debbie Ward) with a bon bon. He employed the services of an inventor, Herr Winkelkopf (Sue Flavell), who put together a clock complete with a small explosive. When Arthur presented the clock to his unsuspecting uncle, the Dean, (Malcolm Dunn), the hesitance and interaction between the two, brought laughter from the audience. Following such inept attempts to commit murder, and conscious of the fact that he felt he had to extricate himself from the forces of destiny before he could marry, there was welcome news that Podges was a charlatan. Lord Arthur, relieved and therefore free from this burden, left to travel by carriage to his wedding rehearsal. However, another unforeseen mishap occurred, and Winkelkopf’s newest bomb exploded; and another wedding postponement announcement was sent to The Times!

Sarah had cast the play well, their projection and direction strong in all cases, making this an enjoyable piece of theatre. Joe Dudley’s role as Baines was both fitting and superb. He was unfaltering with his lines, delivered with clarity. His loyalty to Lord Arthur was unashamed, maintaining calm and composure in each scene. A great deal of this play focused on the chemistry between Lord Arthur and his faithful valet and Steve Poole and Joe Dudley proved to be the perfect concoction. Steve Poole, as Arthur Savile, had a very challenging part, on stage most of the time with great control over the script and his characterisation relaxed and charming, I likened him to the famous actor of years ago, the perfect gent, Rex Harrison, with his typically cut-glass English accent and ‘cool’ body language. Steve gave a solid performance. Sarah was delightful as the lady like Sybil, projecting the sweetness and innocence of her character in her facial expressions and voice tone, ever hopeful, a heartwarming performance. Her delivery of this part very natural. Malcolm Dunn effectively portrayed the role of the sometimes confused but gentle Dean, with some light humour injected in certain scenes which also demanded perfect timing. Lynda Dunn played the part of Lady Windermere with ease, exuding feminine grace and charm.  The unsuspecting Lady Clementine, Arthur’s aunt, was played with relish by Debbie Ward, and commanded our attention when we knew she was at risk of being poisoned, completely oblivious of intentions. Karen Evans’ characterisation of Lady Julia Merton was excellent, relishing the role of the fearsome mother-in-law, a battle axe with put down remarks aimed at Arthur. She adopted ’matronly’ body language and assertive tones in her voice when she expressed her high expectations of others. Hannah Poole made the most of her role as Mr Podges, a total fraud as a palm reader, and Hannah portrayed this role with confidence. Brigitte Brown played Nellie, a cameo role well, though being referred to as a child by Baines did not seem appropriate. Sue Flavell brought pathos to this role and oozed with charm and eccentricity with perfect ‘foreign ‘diction and effective use of gesture. Stage presence was gained from his first entrance with full on energy given to this character, who turned out to be incompetent fooling us all.

This drama was well executed with elements of melodrama that was evidently appreciated by the audience judged by their applause at the end of the evening. The cast had clearly worked very hard, with much determination and enthusiasm demonstrated in leading roles which had challenge.  Sarah has every reason to be greatly satisfied with the way she directed this production. Congratulations to everyone involved. Thank you for inviting me.

 

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