Play On!

PLAY ON! by Rick Abbott is a very funny play that descends into hysterical farce as a fictional amateur theatre group go through the stages of putting on a production of ‘Murder Most Foul’.   The actors squabble and are faced with constant updates to the script and falling scenery.  The structure of the play enables us to enjoy a rehearsal, the dress rehearsal and the first night performances.

The set was excellent and was changed to show the various stages and began with a partially built set of Murder Most Foul to the finished aristocrat’s drawing room.    Props were well sourced and used and included a gun, period telephone, a safe in the wall behind a picture and a precious stone necklace with a constantly changing name!

The costumes were excellent and varied from regular rehearsal clothes to those for a dinner party at an aristocrat’s home.  The ladies’ gowns were exquisite and the men looked very smart in their dinner suits. There was good attention to detail with the wigs, comical to begin with, for effect and then well fitted.   Doris’s maid’s costume was good and when her hat slipped, it added to the eccentricity of her character.  

The sound was good with actors having good projection and voices were clear for the majority of the time.   However, I found some of the posh voices difficult to understand. This didn’t affect my enjoyment and was very funny.    There was good use of sound effects: phone bells, traffic noise and thunder and lightning. 

This was an exceptionally funny and well performed play.  Every single member of the cast was totally involved with their characters and brought the script to life.  The development of the characters was evident and the production values were very high down to the fabulous set, backstage and technical support.    There were some exceptionally funny moments, the audience loved it and I look forward to the next Boundary Players’ production.

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