On Monday Next

This comedy centres around the Drossmouth Repertory Company at their second rehearsal of a new play. As the performance opened, Harriet Blacker, convincingly played by Ginnie Orrey, feigned surprise at seeing an audience in the auditorium and, despite wishing we would leave, explained that, should we stay, then we would witness the early stages of rehearsal for their next production. There followed histrionics, shenanigans and mayhem as the cast arrived and prepared to start proceedings, which were thus surreptitiously observed by the audience.

On a very sultry evening, the theatre was, thankfully, cool but the welcome from personnel as warm as ever. There were roughly sixty audience members which was rather disappointing, as more people might have added to the atmosphere as they were, largely, subdued.

The programme was simple, with information regarding a change to one member of the cast, (which was, apparently, at very short notice), together with the fact that rehearsal time had been quite short. Neither of these factors impacted in any way on the performance. Therefore, full credit should go to Dinah Bowman and her entire cast for delivering an entertaining show.

The set was simplistic which was totally fitting for a typical rehearsal room in the very early stages of preparation for a production. It comprised of chairs, tables, seats and a bench with the addition of an open trap door downstage. The cast utilised the whole stage, which is quite large, and this, in the main, worked well. However, with roughly ten actors on stage during their, often interrupted, attempts to rehearse, it felt, at times as though they were confined to either side front of stage and there were a few occasions when chairs had to be shifted, which, arguably, gave the impression that they were rather cramped and constricted and this was rather distracting. However, this sort of thing can be a common occurrence during any rehearsal and so this may have been deliberate. In contrast, the producer (Harriet), made use of the whole auditorium to great effect. She disappeared to the foyer to meet various people and would then suddenly appear from behind the audience to continue organising her wayward and disparate actors.

The costumes were well thought out and in keeping with the 1950’s era. Liz Santer has an extremely good eye for detail, works hard to achieve her high standards and never fails to please.

As the play progressed, the Drossmouth cast arrived and we were introduced to a wonderful array of diverse characters. Ginnie Orrey was excellent as the bombastic, argumentative, arrogant producer, particularly with her dominance over (The Author), competently played by Sarah Kellet, who convincingly conveyed timidity together with a willingness to please. (Jackson Harley), the stage manager, played well by Martin Deane, was able to stand up to (Harriet) but ultimately admitted defeat and left to play golf. It was good to see Ian Robertson (Stage Carpenter) on stage and ironic that he should play a role that he undertakes regularly on the local amateur dramatic circuit. His laconic, jobsworth attitude and curt responses were excellent and hopefully he will make more appearances front of stage. Amanda Robertson (Maud) is always a joy to watch, particularly regarding her facial expressions, mannerisms and gesticulations. She played the part of an established actor, happy to gossip but never wanting to rock the boat, to perfection. Nessa Law (Daphne) played the part of the silly, giggly, airhead, pet dog in tow, with aplomb. Carolyn Ferguson never disappoints and with Duncan Greaves as her husband both in the rehearsal and their supposed ‘real life’, gave a very realistic play within a play as they argued and vied for the acclaim of best actor. Their interactions were entirely believable.

The talented Karl Whitmore (Jerry Winterton) was outstanding and demonstrated his versatility, playing a rather smooth, often bored, flirtatious ‘luvvie’, fun loving character to great effect. He is very watchable.

There were some very humorous moments, particularly with the hapless (Daphne) being dragged around the stage by the, apparently oblivious, (Harriet) presumably in the same manner as the former would drag her dog around. The slapstick elements of the play raised some laughter, particularly with the antics of Karl (Jerry) leaping around and poor (Harriet) falling both up the stairs and then under the stage, via the open trap door.

The cast was strong and they all handled this rather wordy play very well, keeping up a good pace. In all cases, the characterisations and interactions were extremely good. The director brought out the best in them all and chose her cast wisely. Congratulations to everyone involved.

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