Out of Focus

The Bear Pit was formed in the autumn of 2008 with the aim of creating a permanent, sustainable home for the amateur arts groups in Stratford upon Avon and of creating a focus for the many arts groups in the town.  A highly suitable venue for Peter Gordon’s quirky drama set as it is in a village hall where the impact of double bookings, confusion and various happenings unfold.

Anyone who has ever held responsibility for the bookings of a local village or church hall will undoubtedly empathise with the consequences of doing so by offering the same time and date to different groups in their cherished venue.  The result is chaos with enormous humour and fun as each character has time and space to demonstrate their individuality which made this such an enjoyable comedy.

The culprit in this instance being the worried wife of the vicar ‘Evonne Duckworth’ played to great effect by Rosemary Smith dressed in suitable unflattering wear totally suitable for the part, looking to direct her first pantomime whilst simultaneously trying desperately to hide from her husband her inability to manage hall bookings

In the role of ‘Helen Beever’ Carlyne Mc Hugh was every bit the overbearing authoritative Brown Owl highly protective of her gals whilst the two hoping to be involved in a badminton match ‘ Kath & Bob Enfield’ played by Rachel Alcock and Neil McBride portrayed their marriage relationship difficulties with total believability. Enter here ‘Linda Hammond’ played delightfully by Lisa Maxwell as the third member of an eternal triangle. As “David Wright” and ‘Sue Dixon’ Nick Johnson and Lisa Cowley gave creditable performances and brought a great deal to the plot. In the role of ‘Wayne Bryant’ Steven Bayman was always looking to impress but to little avail as he never seemed to gain attention of anyone to listen to him. Some lovely moments of great comedy though from the characterisation.

Completing this talented cast was Roger Gowland as ‘Leonard Trotter’ who gave a bostin insight to the world of the guest speaker. Sustaining a true Black Country accent throughout he was hugely impressive as the intensely annoying ‘anorak’ character that was booked to present a talk about steam engines complete with boxes of 35mm slides, A brilliant performance.

The wonderfully funny script including many confusing comments and innuendos was delivered by all on stage with great timing and stage craft, all of whom were drawn reluctantly into appearing in the planned pantomime. Many issues bubbling below the surface for individual characters were exposed. One of the best of which was ‘Evonne’ putting away several glasses of wine and a couple of bottles of lager with a brilliant ‘drunk’ performance.

Best use was made of a simple yet effective set with suitable stage props and a range of vivid colour costumes and make up which brought out the characters superbly well.

Well done Phoenix Players for providing a highly appreciative audience with fine entertainment and an enjoyable evening. Certainly not an ‘Out of Focus ‘production!

Ian G Cox

Regional Representative - Worcestershire East (District 12) on Behalf of District 5

NODA – Be Inspired by Amateur Theatre

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