Natural Causes

The CAODS members are, without exception, always friendly and welcoming and the theatre was also warm on a rather chilly evening. Disappointingly, on this second evening, the audience of around fifty matched the opening night number but hopefully word will spread that this show is well worth seeing as they deserve a larger audience.

A tasteful set had been designed by the director, Dinah Bowman. She decided to move away from a box set and used greys and blacks instead. It was totally in keeping with that of an English country house. The apron had been utilised effectively, with a study one side and a garden area on the other.  Downstage, patio doors opened out onto an attractive garden and path. Full credit to Dinah for her design plus Sylvia Whalley and The Wednesday Workforce for bringing it to fruition and creating a believable middle-class sitting room, study and gardens.  The props were also fitting, particularly the rubber plant. The team had certainly paid great attention to detail. There seemed to be a slight issue with a rug that would not lie flat. However, this did not appear to cause any problems to the cast.

The programme was predominantly in green and white with a potted plant and poison bottle on the cover. Inside a welcome from the director, a brief history of the cast members and some details about the playwright. There was no synopsis of the play although this was both advertised on their website and outside of the theatre on a noticeboard.

The music had been thoughtfully chosen, particularly an instrumental version of the theme from M*A*S*H, also known as ‘Suicide is Painless’ which was very apt. The lighting was good although at times the actors appeared to be in a slight shadow near to the study area. Costumes, under the talented Liz Santer, were up to her usual excellent standard.

The plot is centered around Walter Bryce, whose wife, Celia, said to be depressed, supposedly wanted to take her own life. As a result, Walter had arranged for Carole Carol, a representative from a euthanasia group to visit. Unknown to Carole, Bryce was having an affair with his secretary, Angie. Carole obviously was more and more confused as to whom the poison was intended for and whether a suicide pact might be involved. This confusion was compounded by the arrival of Withers, a Samaritan, who also appeared to have troubles of his own. The audience was left to guess who would ultimately end up drinking the poison, as it became clear that this would form the denouement. Meanwhile the rubber plant having been given a dose of the poison, much to the amusement of the audience, withered and died, having gone through various stages of decay at every scene change.

The cast were well chosen and the characterisation from each member was honed to perfection. It would be impossible to pick out anyone as they all performed so well. The interaction and relationships were totally believable. This black comedy, written by Eric Chappell, is rather wordy and needed to be acted at a fast pace. The cast managed this very well and although some prompting was needed, this did not detract from the overall enjoyment. There were many amusing lines but the audience, on this occasion, appeared quite reticent to laugh which is no reflection on the delivery of the lines.

This proved to be an engaging and amusing show with many twists and turns. Well done to director Dinah Bowman and her team. Long may CAODS continue to provide such varied and enjoyable entertainment.

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