Private Peaceful

I would like to thank everyone at B M C & D S for their kind invitation to myself and Paul Walker, Chairman of CODS, for the opening night of their summer production of Private Peaceful. This was my first outing as the NODA representative for the North Devon area and it proved to be a very thought provoking and poignant production performed to an audience of just over 80.

The group are fortunate to have such a rehearsal and performance space and it was used to great effect. The director, Jordan Buckingham, had used an extremely simple set that was changed slickly by members of the cast to create the identity of different scenes. Raised blocks and a four-legged table cleverly changed into such things as a bed and a world war bunker. The death of Tommo’s father proves to be a pivotal part of his life. Killed by the felling of a tree, this was done very effectively by members of the cast creating the image of a tree and smothering the unfortunate father.

The cast of 17 undertook the many roles that were needed with many doubling up obviously leading to quite a few costume changes. The lead roles were particularly strong and George Green - Tommo, is to be congratulated on the emotion he conveyed throughout his story. Billy Buckingham – Charlie, Liz Hill – Mother and Amena El-Kindy – Molly all worked well together to show the love, affection and togetherness within the family. Ben Paddon – Big Joe portraying an individual with learning difficulties did so with great tact but my goodness he ate a lot when on stage!!

The lighting was intrinsic to the production and for the most part this was extremely well done. However, there were times when the actors didn’t find the spot and were cast into semi darkness so always try to feel it. The only other minor negative comment I might have would be to do with diction from those who had some of the minor roles. An audience get used to the volume being generated by those on stage a lot of the time so it is important for those joining a scene to come in with similar levels of energy and enthusiasm or else it is possible to get a two tier performance and the story becomes difficult to follow.

A lot of money had been spent on costumes as was necessary with such a production and it added to the visual spectacle of the show. Always be careful that when you come on stage someone has checked to make sure you are properly dressed.

But these are minor things and as a Rep it is my duty to point out things I see as a member of the audience. A show doesn’t have to have an audience rolling about in tears of laughter, or shouting from the roof tops for encores, to be good. It has to be well presented, hold the audience’s attention and make people feel they’ve had a good evening out and value for money. Private Peaceful did all of these and all those involved should be proud of their achievement. It has set a standard for me to compare other productions and once again I would like to thank you all for the invitation and I look forward to seeing you all again in November for your production of Sunset Boulevard. Mike Canning.             

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