Pressure

PRESSURE ... a drama performed by Southport Dramatic Club at Southport Little Theatre on Thursday 29th February 2024.

An intense real-life thriller penned by David Haig … centres around the most important ‘weather forecast’ in the history of warfare!  In June 1944, one man's decision is about to change the course of history… everything is in place for the biggest invasion ever known in Europe, the D-Day landings as part of ‘Operation Overlord’.  One last crucial question remains: will the weather be right on the day?  Problematically there are two opposing forecasts... an American celebrity weatherman Colonel Kricks predicts sunshine, while Scotsman, Dr James Stagg, Chief Meteorological Officer for the Allied Forces, forecasts a storm!  As the world watches and waits, General Eisenhower, Allied Supreme Commander, must decide which of these bitter antagonists to trust.... this is a decision that will not only seal the fates of thousands of men, but could win or lose the entire war. This is an extraordinary and little-known true story… David Haig's play thrillingly explores the responsibilities of leadership, the challenges of prophecy and the personal toll of taking a stand!

The Production Team … wow… Michèle Martin (Director) and Emma Wells-Hall (Assistant Director) were the ones who took up the challenge of bringing this powerful, demanding and well written play to stage and what a great job they made of it!  Michèle, tells us in her programme notes… that this is a story that many of us knew little about from those ‘D’ Day landings… ‘the role of the weather’ and how crucial it was and how one man, had such a major influence on proceedings, whilst, at the same time, struggling to deal with his own personal family life and its problems which was, without doubt, affecting his thinking and his ability to stand firm!  But, with the help from an unlikely source, he did stand firm, the results of which basically changed the outcome of those landings and probably the war! 

The Cast… Michèle and Emma did a great job with the casting of this play… providing us with some
well-rounded characters created, some stand-out performances achieved and some moments with superb emotional depth!  The cast worked ever so well together throughout, looking interested and engaged and all adding their own individual contributions, which ensured the success of this production.  The cast included… Richard Michell as ‘Dr James Stagg’;  Emily Parr as ‘Kay Summersby’; Oliver Ridgway as ‘Andrew’; Gary Flynn as ‘Captain Johns’; Nathan Power as a ‘Young Naval Meteorologist’; Ted Bullen as ‘General ‘Ike’ Eisenhower’; Dave Cox as an Electrician, Ed Davies who took on a dual role of ‘Air Chief Marshall, Leigh- Mallory’ and ‘Lt Battersby’;  Mike Yates, also took on a dual role… ‘Admiral ‘Bertie’ Ramsay’ and an ‘ARP Warden’;  Gary Simpson was another taking on two roles, ‘General ‘Tooey’ Spaatz’ and ‘Commander Franklin’; Edward James played ‘Colonel Kricks’, Emma Wells-Hall played a ‘Secretary’ and finally Peter Hoyle was the voice of the ‘BBC Announcer’ (never seen). Having listed all cast members, it would be remiss of me now, not to stick the ‘old neck out’ and select MY three favourite characters… and I would suggest, without knowing, that these three may well form the basis of most people’s favourite characters… they were our three ‘leads’ who really did provided us with three noteworthy performances on the night!  Richard Michell was outstanding as ‘Group Captain James Stagg’, a member of the British Met Office attached to the Royal Air Force during the second World War, the person responsible for persuading General Eisenhower to change the date for the Allied Invasion of Europe … the ‘D’ Day Landings!  Richard took this part and made it his own… confident, assured, good accent, great characterisation, great mannerisms and facial expressions.  Richard took us on a journey, a journey that at times belied belief!  Be ever so proud Richard… lotta lines, lotta emotion, lotta stats… great job!   Ted Bullen was a perfect fit for the role of ‘General ‘Ike’ Eisenhower’, the ‘Supreme Allied Commander’ in World War 2, leader of the troops in Europe and the leader of ‘Operation Overlord’ the amphibious invasion of Normandy. Powerful performance, full of energy, commitment, confidence, never out of character… loved some of the inspirational speeches … be very proud Ted, great job sir!  My third and possible favourite character of all was Emily Parr’s portrayal of ‘Kay Summersby BEM’, a member of the British Mechanised Transport Corps during World War II.  Kay served as chauffeur and personal secretary to General Eisenhower throughout this period and as a result, spent a great deal of time with ‘Ike’ and they became extremely close and there was some suggestion of a relationship between them both which was cut short after the invasion, when he severed all ties with her!  Emily created this totally believable character …  with wonderful stage presence; superb diction and she had the ability to portray all the emotions required to bring this character to life.  Loved the closeness she was able to show toward ‘Ike’ and the way her support and bond with Dr Stagg developed... confident, assured, a perfect fit for this role….be very proud Emily fabulous job!

Stage/Set/Tech … Ged Whittle (Stage Manager) and his Stage Crew (Radley Haynes and the SDC Team), Alan Gosling (Set Design), Bob Jessamine (Scenic Artist) and the SDC Construction Team should be ever so proud of the set and the staging for this production, which afforded everything the actors required and probably more.  The Lighting and Sound technicians should have probably stood alongside the actors for the finale bows… there was little or no doubt that their efforts enhanced this production ever so much… those accolades were earned by Patrick O’Reilly (Lighting) and David Proffitt (Sound). I particularly loved the lighting effects through the ‘glass doors’ stage right which was superb throughout enhancing the scenes and the entire play!  The sound effects for the low flying aircraft, falling bombs and the radio commentaries were totally authentic and convincing, be proud guys!  Can I also mention the scene changes carried out with ‘military precision’ by the actors in semi dimmed lighting which, for me, was another plus! Blackouts can and do slow productions down and get boring... but this was never the case in this production… the scene changes were seamless, quiet and efficient… well done one and all!   What was also impressive was the array of ‘military equipment and charts.  The ‘Stevenson Screen’ and the other small pieces of weather-related equipment which littered the room were authentic and helped enhanced the play so much… what was also impressive were the ‘weather wall charts’ … which again, added authenticity to proceedings … congrats to all responsible… all that obvious effort paid off! 

Loved the production, but if I’m honest, I did think it was a little lengthy, which was no fault of the actors or the production team, you can only work with what you’re given!  But I do have one small piece of constructive advice from two loyal SDC Patrons who I sit in front of every Thursday when I attend … they tell me that they been attending SDC productions on a Thursday evening, sat in the same seats, for over twenty years …  their advice … ‘Project, even when whispering or speaking quietly… those on the back row of the theatre need to hear every word’ … you’ve been told, good advice… I did promise them I’d tell you ahahahahaha!

To sum up, I can only re-iterate what I said at the start of this review…  this obviously wasn’t the easiest of productions to stage or produce, but there was an obvious work ethic running through the entire production from both cast and crew which resulted in a production that was both moving and thought-provoking and which considered and portrayed one of the most important moments in our country’s history… be proud!

Thank you so much for inviting my wife and I we thoroughly enjoyed every minute of the play and learned so much!

‘Stay Safe, Keep well’
‘Stronger Together’

Jim Briscoe,
NODA NW
District 6 Rep

© NODA CIO. All rights reserved.