Not Now Darling

Ray explained in his thoughts in the programme that ‘Not Now Darling’ sits in the genre of farce and this is described as a broadly humorous play based on the exploitation of improbable situations; this piece has plenty of that. The sunny morning in the Bodley, Bodley and Crouch Salon in 1970 was beautifully created in a sleek and creative box set designed and built by the multitalented director. Ray understands how to create the perfect box set his work has become a moment to savour as the curtains part and this was no exception. Hats off to ‘Arnold Crouch’ who was bamboozled, used and flabbergasted by the rest of the company while trying to keep a professional hand on the business. This actor never truly left the stage and showed a good presence and understanding of the need to keep pace and a sense of confusion in equal measure, he being the linchpin in the proceedings and the one attempting to keep order in the chaos. Mrs Frencham a skilled and experienced performer entered the stage with a true pompous air and created her character from the off and we found ourselves wondering if she would ever see her beloved fur ever again. Mr Bodley had the one oddity in the concept of this piece being the only character to break the fourth wall and communicate with us, the audience, explaining the backstory and the reason behind the happenings that we were going to witness. Having the complexity of the story teller and a character within the proceedings is not easy and in trying to convey everything to us had the issue of slowing down the play somewhat.
This piece asks for sexual tension and although this was touched upon through the direction the cast were a little sedate. Janey, sashayed around the stage and used her voice and eyes well but her youth meant she has limited knowledge of the type of woman she was portraying, although she gave it a really good go. Sue had more awareness but these two characters function through the control over the men they wish to ‘use’ and this was a little glip in the mix. Mrs Bodley’s maturity and life experience gave her more control in this area and she speeded up the proceedings and looked every inch the glamorous sexual predatory woman. Others within the cast captured their characters nicely and the company worked as a good solid unit as no one overshadowing anyone else.
The audience tittered a lot but there was no true guffaws, the cast worked extremely hard as this is complicated run a round piece but a little more pace would have truly captured the spirt of farce. A fun evening which the Brewhouse audience enjoyed immensely and that is what is most important. Thespians bring good quality productions to the people of Taunton and should be justly proud in what they achieved here. 

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