Losing Louis

Another good production from this Society – who seem to keep improving all the time.

Losing Louis is a difficult piece to stage but I liked the way the blackouts were kept to the very minimum time-wise and the time shift noted by the change of ornaments.

The set was nicely constructed and worked well. I liked the choice of music it gave a good feel for the two different periods of the setting, and the sound effects cut in well to the action, very well done.

The first scene was very striking – it could have been rather sleazy, but was both funny and light, so it couldn’t cause any sort of offence. I thought Julie O’Shea as Bella was particularly good in that scene!

Ryan Goodland played the Louis of the title, and gave it some good contrasts, but I felt he was a little too accepting of the situation with his wife and Bella. However the two ladies in his life were both very good in their own ways, and I liked what they did with their parts.

Julie gave the part of Bella interest, whilst managing to keep the refinement needed to make the contrast with Bobbie.

On her first appearance when she was in bed – I would have liked Sara Payne as Bobbie to have projected a little more, but after that her diction was always clear, despite the accent, which was well-maintained throughout.

One couldn’t help but feel a little sorry for Bobbie, whilst acknowledging that she was a little strange in her outlook, and maybe even conniving and devious in her dealings with Bella, and her subsequent taking over of Bella’s child as if it were her own. All very nicely acted out – and believable.

The two sons and their wives were very good pairings, good contrasts and dimensions.

I particularly liked Robin Langer as Tony – it was nice to see him in a different sort of part, and he proved that he has the comic timing required. Robin interacted well with the lovely Sarah Brindley, who was brimming over with laughter and depth of understanding for her rather common character Sheila, a lovely performance that I thoroughly enjoyed.

Irene Morris as Elizabeth, the rather more upper class wife of the other brother Reggie (who turned out to be Bella’s son), was very classy and sophisticated which was an excellent foil to the others, with Steve Leadbetter playing Reggie. The scenes between him and Robin were well-acted, and they maintained their different character traits well.

The scene about the clock was hilarious, as was the later scene where they were telling the joke – very funny, and I laughed a lot.

So – another good evening’s entertainment – and fairly healthy audience numbers even on the first night, so hope it was as successful financially as it was in terms of achievement and enjoyment.

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