Move Over Mrs Markham

Front tabs were not used in this production (until the very end) so we were able to take in the set at our leisure. It is nice for an audience to be able to study the set before the start of the play, but any last minute adjustments by backstage crew are best made before the audience are admitted.

The set was uncluttered and functional, although the sofa looked rather too shabby for a couple who were obviously fairly well off, and the decor was not particularly of the period.

Costumes were suitable, but not firmly rooted in the period. The negligee that Joanna showed her husband was obviously not the one she ended up wearing. However, the negligees and underwear were worn with confidence.

With so many important entrances and exits in farces, it is important that doors and sets are of realistic and solid construction, and this was the case here. The skyline, visible through the French windows upstage was beautifully painted and looked very realistic. The placement of the bed in the bedroom in plays like this can be difficult as it can block the action, but here it was used to good effect, giving the actors the opportunity for some extra comedy and allowing them to play out front. Care needs to be taken when there is an imaginary wall that actors stay well within the limits of the room or the illusion is broken.

Props looked authentic and the difficult business of pouring and handing out drinks was handled well. The telephone and intercom ringing was well timed, but the smashing glass sound effect did not sound authentic, and was not produced in the correct area of the set. The opening and closing music was well chosen and well timed.

Pace is all-important in farces, and generally throughout this production the pace was good. There were times when the rhythm was lost and I felt that at times the actors were trying too hard for laughs, rather than letting this well-written script do the work for them (comedy is usually much funnier when played straight). Sometimes laughs were lost because lines were ill-timed or over-pointed. The volume (loudness) of speech varied greatly amongst the cast, and it is perhaps worth addressing this issue in rehearsal when you have actors with such widely different voice volume. The cast  worked very well as a team, with excellent timing on the many entrances and exits, and the relationships created were believable.  The physical set pieces (eg. Markham and Lodge listening at the bedroom door, and the 'goosing') were well handled. The introduction of Miss Smythe in Act 2 brought a new energy to the piece, and the scene that followed was well played by all.

© NODA CIO. All rights reserved.