Murder Most Obvious & Ormskirk Theatre Company Presents Strictly Sexfactor on Ice

“Ormskirk Theatre Company’s” (OTC) latest offering for our enjoyment was a comedy double bill of plays written by two different authors but which actually complimented each other very well. The first play called “Murder Most Obvious”, was written and directed by Paul Falcone. This was a short piece which was very typical of the eccentric wacky British sense of humour which centred on an amateur theatre company namely the Ormskirk Theatre Company who were performing a very under rehearsed and unorganised murder mystery play, but unfortunately everything that could go wrong goes wrong, such as stage crew having to take the place of missing actors, sound effects that went wrong, drunk actors and stagehands who nailed their feet to the floor. It was performed by a team of nine actors using their talent of comic timing and acting very well with good effect, they include Andy Hawkes, Simon James, Pat Baker, Charlotte Taylor, Gary Simpson, Lesley Roper, Dave Smith, Chris Smalley and Lisa O Reilly. The second play is called “Ormskirk Theatre Company Presents Strictly Sex Factor on Ice”, written by Davis Tristram and directed by Charlotte Taylor, and although these two plays were written as two separate pieces and by two different authors they work and link together very well, giving the feeling that you were actually just watching one play. We discover the committee of the said amateur theatre company attending the first meeting following their latest production “Murder Most Obvious”. We find that the company are once again facing hard times and their existence is threatened. But their Chairman, Gordon has come up with a cunning plan, he suggests that the company should come up with their own block buster Saturday night entertainment mixing all the big popular reality shows into one, hoping to attract an audience that would normally stay at home to watch these shows which are a staple of Saturday night viewing on the TV. However, he has to persuade his fellow committee members who are all eccentric parodies of people and characters we can identify with in life, about the feasibility of his plan. The cast included four very good comedic performances from Simon James, Pat Baker, Gary Simpson, and Lisa O'Reilly working together as a team which is very important for the success of this type of production. Diction and clarity of words was as usual very good meaning the plot in both plays could be followed easily. There was one minimalist set with a black back cloth used for both plays, but scenes were set by the use of different props with lighting and sound effects, which was just right for the venue and was very effective. Costumes also were just right for the characters and the type of production.

I must congratulate OTC for the quality of these two plays as due to circumstances they had to cancel their original production meaning they put this production together in just four weeks, so it is clear that these plays were a testament to the talent within this company.

Thank you once again for inviting us we had a very enjoyable evening and we hope to see you again soon.

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