Outside Edge

This comedy written by Richard Harris concerns a cricket team fixture where the team captain is having trouble with his team, and this charts their various relationships and problems.  As such, it is an amusing piece, with some laugh out loud moments.

The Maltings is a small performance venue, that lends itself well to a play that requires one set, and although this was played in blacks with minimal props, it worked well, and I really liked the grass on the front of the stage to signify the field of play!  However the score board, which featured quite highly later in the play was practically unseeable from the back, there was a lot of craning of necks to see what was going on – if it had been a little higher we could all have appreciated the moves!

Lighting was basic but did what was needed, and it was good to be able to hear every word the actors said, even from the back of the auditorium.

I felt that a little more thought could have been given to costumes, some seemed a little slapdash whereas others were spot on, they needed a little more attention to detail. 

The piece dropped pace in several places, that said there were some very good performances within the framework of the piece.

Roger, the team captain, was played by Graeme Shaw, a north country jobsworth who treated his poor wife like a maid of all work.  I got the feel of the rather bumbling bumptious man, with his hidebound views.  A little slow on cues occasionally.

I liked Abigail Giles portrayal of Miriam.  The slightly dowdy, world-weary wife, trying to cover every aspect of the life she led with Roger, and getting very uptight when something disturbed the smooth running of that life, for instance when the team came in for tea earlier than expected, how annoying would that be – and Abi got that so right.  A little more light and shade would have enhanced the character.

Jill Hardman gave us a nice Ginnie, wife of Bob, who appeared to be playing away with his previous wife, but then everything turned out well in the end.  It gave Ginnie the chance to make some very wry and pointed remarks, which Jill achieved well.

Bob, Ginnie’s husband, was played by Rob Lewis, with a rather resigned air at the state of his marriage, as from the lib it seemed that he’d been there before, several times, but I felt that this time I really wanted it to work!  Rob appeared a little distracted at the start, taking a phone call from his ex-wife, again a certain lack of pace, but gained momentum later on.

The third pairing of Kevin and Maggie was the one that I felt worked the best, perhaps because they were both strong characters, who started with intention and carried that through from start to finish.  I particularly liked Kathryn Hearn as Maggie, she created a really bold, larger than life, but somehow good at heart woman, with no finesse, and the fact that she was a brickie and also adjusted the ballcock in the loo, just added further dimensions to her portrayal.

Malcolm Coakley played Kevin well, I see from his bio that this was Malcolm’s first purely acting role, so thought he carried it off well, he created a good relationship with Kathryn.

Lee Carling, again in his first acting role as Alex, seemed a little adrift at times, but had the essence of the alpha male, who liked an attractive girl on his arm, but wasn’t prepared to treat her well!

Alex’s attractive girl came in the shape of Lucy McCann as Sharon.  I liked her tense nervous portrayal, which showed well against the other characters, and I enjoyed what she did with the part.

David Martin played the only other character, whose wife we did not see, but who was very patronising in his attitude to her, and indeed most women!  David gave a nicely studied performance as always, a little slow in delivery, but a good contrast to the rest of the cast.

A good evening’s entertainment, that certainly brightened a wet and windy night!

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