Natural Causes

 The first – but by no means only – wonderful thing I noticed about ‘Natural Causes’ was the set: the talented team at STARS (Mel Silver, Brian Stead, Jeff Brown, Fran Silver, Catherine Franz, Alex Franz, David Waite, Joan Waite) have brought to life in every detail the book-lined study of a faded
 intellectual, personified in the character of Walter Bryce who, as the play begins, is very anxiously playing host to an eccentric individual named – or perhaps not – Vincent Vincent. The latter, it appears has the wherewithal to administer a potion inducing death almost immediately with no trace – the victim will appear to have died from ‘Natural Causes’.
You would expect a black comedy based on such a premise, from the pen of Eric Chappell, the writer of such hits as ‘Rising Damp’ to have twists, turns, miscommunication and plenty of laughs, and indeed the script delivers all this and more. But the real success of this production rests on the portrayal of each character. And director, Joan Kay, and her assistant, Chris Binns, can feel very proud of their work and their team.
The play was dominated by Chris Binns as the bumbling Vincent, a member of Exodus, a euthanasia group that assists people in suicide. With his cheeky grin and superb timing he managed to
 inadvertently almost kill most of the cast who weren’t planning suicide. Dave Harris played Walter Bryce, the writer who called in Exodus to help his wife in her suicide, to perfection – he captured the part with finesse and handled the character professionally. Walter’s secretary, Angie was given a wonderful portrayal by Georgia Dennis. A strong determined woman who was out for what she could get. Georgia handled the character with aplomb catching the role as envisaged. His wife, Celia was played by Joan Kay. A good portrayal of the wife who had had enough and wanted to leave it all but wanted her husband to join with her. Joan presented well, has a wonderful clear upper class accent in the role and added to the high standard of the production. The man from the Samaritans, Withers, who started off cheerful and enthusiastic for life after talking to Vincent changed his mind somewhat. Withers was played by Ryan Jones who gave a good performance, being suitably fluttery in the face of a possible suicide.
The production was suitably enhanced by appropriate lighting to depict the indoor & outdoor parts of the set, courtesy of Andy Wright and Peter Wallwork, sound effects, mainly telephones and birds, thanks to Neil Bradford and a well thought through costume plot, courtesy of Clare Burnside and the cast.
The play is on until Saturday 29th so you’ve still got chance to catch this excellent production. Expect
 hilarity, confusion – and a lot of plot twists along the way, all of which make for a most entertaining evening!
Finally, and it’s got nothing to do with the play, but many congratulations to whoever is behind your new website and social media campaign – both of which can only enhance STARS already excellent reputation. And “YES”, I think you should look at online booking – it can only complement what you already do.
 
  

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