QUARTET

A good start to the autumn round of productions, with a wry look at the characters in a home for older musicians who'd fallen on hard times.

I felt the set was a little minimal for Wheathampstead, usually they have a lot to offer, however there were some nice references with the paintings and the Rigoletto poster, plus the garden backdrop.

Lighting was good, I liked the effect at the end, which gave a different sort of finale and curtain call.  It caused a ripple of interest and discussion afterwards from the audience.

The play was well written, and the cast made the most of their characters.  We had Wilfred Bond played by Len Skilton, some very funny lines, mostly based on his baser feelings towards the opposite sex, and Cecily in particular.  Len delivered his lines with great assurance and featured on the comedic values of the script.

Margaret Skilton played the rather diffident Cecily Robson really nicely, giving the impression of oncoming dementia well, I liked her portrayal, and she looked the part in her restrained clothing.

Bruce King played Reginald Paget, a slightly more aesthetic character,  who had sudden attacks of fury when he spied Angelique (always off stage), who obviously refused to give him marmalade!  The sudden change from a mild-mannered man to an extremely angry man was very good.

The final character to complete the quartet was Jean, a straight-speaking troubled singer, living on her past success.  Jan Westgarth took this role, and proved once again what an accomplished actor she is, we got the insecurity, the angst, and then her graciousness in agreeing to perform with the others, tempered with her belief she was better than any of them despite her difficulties!  A consummate piece of acting.

The concept of using a backing track to mime to of the quartet in their prime, rather than fall short of their own expectations was well done, and was the reason for the lighting decision at the end of the play.  I liked the actions used by the cast, and it was an unexpected finale.

Possibly not my favourite play, but the cast acted well, given the bounds of the dialogue, bringing out the humour and irony, altogether a fun evening.

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