Party Piece

To make the production of “Party Piece” a success, this very funny play requires speed, perfect timing with the dialogue and numerous entrances and exits. They achieved all this in spades.

Director Amanda Jackson must be congratulated for directing this first-class production. The actors were well cast and worked well together giving confident performances with clear diction, impeccable timing with repetitive                                dialogue and very defined characterisations. As always, the set worked perfectly with two separate gardens and two doors on each house and conversations with neighbours over the fence meant that the doors were in constant                              use. It was mind blowing to watch and there were many great scenes from all the actors.

The play is set in the back gardens of two bickering neighbours, and it is the night of Michael and Roma’s fancy-dress housewarming party. Preparations for the party are progressing slowly and the food has not yet been taken                                  out of the freezer. The BBQ is not functioning properly, and a string of other disasters occur during the evening that do not help to make this a successful party. One by one the invited guests are cancelling and give various excuses                            for not attending. Underneath all this, Michael and Roma have a couple of screaming matches each followed by a lovey-dovey interval.

John Varlow played Michael who insists that everything must be perfect for the party, from the BBQ to the stereo.  Rachael Lilley took on the hectic role of his wife, Roma, trying her best to make it all happen, as well as taking                          numerous telephone calls and trying to keep the peace with the neighbours.   Excellent performances from these two actors who worked well together and were constantly on the move.

The next-door neighbour, Mrs Hinson, is a very cantankerous old lady who exaggerates her illness and uses her zimmer frame as and when it suits her. Her other joy is to cause trouble between her son and his second wife,                                    and, of course, the new neighbours with very caustic comments. She then turns the tables by implying that all she has for company is her TV and says that she “doesn’t want to be any trouble to anyone”. This received a laugh every time.                Sue Brewer was first-rate in this role and   Gary Jarvis was excellent as her son, David, who tries his best to please his mother but nothing he does is ever good enough. I think most of the audience felt so sorry for him and would gladly                have helped him to move her in to a suitable home. With Mrs Hinson’s sarcastic comments to Jennifer, David’s wife, no wonder she was a bag of nerves. In a fit of temper, Jennifer threw Mrs. Hinson’s Zimmer frame over the fence.                    Another great performance from Julie Kaye.

As the evening progress and with no guests Michael and Roma are wondering if they should invite Mrs. Hinson, her son David and his wife, Jennifer, to the party. An unexpected guest then arrives in the form of a charming and very relaxed           Toby (David Colston) dressed as Robin Hood but, without Maid Marian. Toby was on the lookout for a possible replacement, but his priority was food, and of course there isn’t any.                                                                                                             David’s interpretation of this character was spot-on. Another guest arrives; the very sassy and sexy young lady, Sandy, who is trying to hide from her very irate husband.  She uses the full extent of her feminine charms on Toby                                who, of course, is unable to resist. Jolene Varlow was superb in this role.     

Eventually, David and Jennifer made their appearance at Michael and Roma’s party. Even Mrs Hinson came, inviting herself to look around the house while making unkind comments on the décor and insisting she made everyone                                a cup of tea even if they didn’t want one. With so much going on and lots of wine being consumed things got out of hand and the meat on the BBQ caught fire. The fairy lights stopped working and Michael, in his exasperation,                            climbed up a ladder to the guttering to fix them. The getter and lights fell off and so did Michael. This was all perfectly timed, and chaos ruled       

Congratulations to everyone involved in making this a very good production: the production team, members of the cast, set builders/designer, sound and lighting engineers, props and costumes.

Thank you for your invite and hospitality and a most enjoyable evening.  

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