People

People, written by probably our greatest living playwright Alan Bennett. Not one of his better-known works, it is set in a crumbling stately home in Yorkshire, which is in dire need of a large sum of cash to keep it alive. Impoverished owner Lady Dorothy is strongly resisting handing it over to the National Trust because she doesn’t want ‘people’ invading her privacy, but the only other choices appear to be auctioning off the house and contents or selling it to a shady consortium. The play covers many of Bennett’s favourite topics, including sex, religion and old age and it also takes a swipe at the National Trust for creating a ‘pretend England’ in its preservation of old properties.

The curtains opened to a fabulous box set that was used throughout, with the addition of a four-poster bed in Act 2. Great credit to set designer (and Director) David Ellis, the large team of builders and painters, and also to Kay Hearne for gathering together such an eclectic set of props and furniture. Together they created the run-down atmosphere perfectly.

For his first outing as a Director, David Ellis has picked a strong and experienced cast and, together, they kept this very wordy play moving along at a good pace, producing a lot of laughs and some well-crafted characters. Not least of these was Lady Dorothy Stacpoole herself – a role that Linda MacDonald inhabited as if born to it. Her steely character shone through her shabby appearance. She was very much still in charge of her crumbling pile and determined to keep it going. Later we saw a glimpse of her as a coquettish young woman, when she relived a long distant relationship with Theodore. Gill Harvey-Whitten bounced off her nicely as her ‘companion’ Iris, delivering her sniping remarks with good timing. As Bevan the Auctioneer, James Wood demonstrated a very convincing, natural style, totally at ease in the part and justifying the ladies’ mistrust of his camel coat when he reneged on his promises at the end.

Debbie Wigg made June, Dorothy’s Archdeacon sister, very down to earth, with sensible shoes, not taking any nonsense, and strongly promoting the National Trust to take over the house. Fergus Milton as Lumsden, the Trust’s representative, enthused well about every crumbling aspect of the house.

To make some quick cash, Lady Dorothy allows a porn film company to use the house for filming. This scene was handled beautifully, with a lot of the comedy coming from the rapid-fire lines and action. Bill Wallage oozed charm as Theodore, the film’s Director, and former flame of Dorothy, Liam Peters kept the campness of Bruce, the Grip, nicely subdued, with Andy Wharton (Nigel) and Mandy Collingwood (Les) completing a convincing film crew. As the stars of the film, Jack Smith (Colin) and Chloe Hearne (Britt) added a lot to the humour as they tried to ‘get ready’, and Chloe’s accent was excellent. John Duncan made a believable Bishop, keen to see the Regency Rooms, and narrowly avoiding seeing what else was going on, and Deborah Murray ably played the costume lady Lousie, encouraging Dorothy to start wearing her old gowns again.

On the subject of costumes, Linda MacDonald and her team made sure that everyone had totally appropriate clothing to wear, and Dorothy’s gowns in Act 2 were particularly stunning, earning gasps from the audience.

Stage Manager Carolyn Brinsmead kept the scene changes very brief and quiet, so that we were hardly aware they were happening. Lighting (Phil Hanley and team) and sound (Bob Ede) were spot on too. Both acts opened with a reminder to turn off phones, ostensibly by Alan Bennett. We spent some time debating whether or not it was the man himself, but I was told later that it was James Wood – what a good impersonation!

I would never have known this was David Ellis’s first time directing. He and his team have given us a fine, accomplished production, nicely bringing out Bennett’s sardonic humour all the way through. I hope we get to see more of his work in the future.

Well done to everyone for giving us a thoroughly enjoyable evening’s entertainment.

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