Love on the Beach

The sudden death of Tom Millard’s wife prompts him to re-evaluate his life and make out a ‘bucket list’ of things he wishes to do before it ends. Top of the list is to move to the coast and having   achieved that, he can now tick it off. Tom (valiantly played by Gary Cadwallader) finds that his move is not appreciated by his two married daughters, since he is no longer on hand to help out with chores such as gardening, decorating, child minding, dog walking and sundry other tasks. The daughters, Lucy (played by Lucy Kelley) and Jade (played by Briony Sparrow) decide to visit their dad and take along Brenda (played by Anthea Hardstaff); a wealthy divorcee friend who they hope will be able to tempt Tom to live with her. Another friend, Keith (played by Hugh Butterworth) acted as their chauffeur.

Tom is not one to let the grass grow under his feet and prior to the daughter’s arrival had made arrangements for a uniformed lady from an escort agency to come and entertain him. Whilst waiting for her to arrive Tom is visited by the local vicar (serenely played by Dawn Cadwallader) who is dressed in her working clothes, which included a ‘dog – collar’. Initially Tom mistakes the vicar for the lady from the escort agency but by his quick thinking he manages to avert a major social disaster. The daughters arrive and straight way start to organise the appointment of a cleaner to keep Tom’s home tidy. Needless to say, the lady who presents herself for interview, Alice (played by Lynette Richardson) is totally unsuitable but as she pleads poverty and numerous health problems, Tom feels obliged to appoint her; from then on she seems to spend her time reclining on the settee reading   newspapers. Surprise! Surprise! The escort lady arrives, vivaciously played by Natalie Smith.

Can a calm resolution be found to deal with this farcical situation? The answer is definitely Yes. Largely due to Tom’s caring and considerate manner, it becomes a case of “all’s well that ends well”. This extremely funny play was well-cast with all the players delivering good characterisation. There were a number of difficult issues which were dealt with under Lesley Sparrow’s sensitive direction. Some prompts were required on the night I attended but they did not really detract from the performance. I thought that the incidental music which accompanied the set changes was most pleasant. Well done all who were involved in this production.

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