Rules for Living

When it is snowing outside, going to watch a seasonal play is ideal, especially one that is being performed by Dronfield Players. Although the title doesn’t suggest this type of production, the giveaway is when the curtain opens to reveal Christmas decorations.

When a family meet up to celebrate Christmas Day they hope to spend many happy hours in each other’s company. However, things can and do go wrong and they certainly do with this family, consisting of mother, father, two brothers, partners and a teenage daughter. With arguments and sarcastic remarks in abundance, it was obvious that not everyone liked each other, and some showed a dark side to their characters. However, there were many scenes when their behaviour brought so much laughter to a very much appreciative audience.

This production was very cleverly directed by Sarah Betts and the seven actors were perfect with their characterisations. Each one was very clearly defined and with diction delivered at the correct pace they worked very well together. Excellent performances from everyone.

The two brothers, Matthew and Adam, could not have been more different, and they did not see eye-to-eye in many subjects. This had obviously started when they were children with them having been forced by their father into professional careers which neither of them wanted. Matthew’s partner, Carrie, and Adam’s wife, Sheena, disliked each other and making the situation worse was the brothers’ very domineering mother, Edith. Everything and everyone had to run exactly to her timetable, including her wheelchair-bound husband, Francis, who was recovering from a stroke. The daughter of Adam and Sheena, Emma, appeared to be the only one who didn’t wish to get involved with all of this.

As the title of the play is “Rules for Living”, we in the audience needed to know the rules they all lived by. Great back-projection created by the technical team showed us the rules for each character as they made their first entrances with more and more rules added as the play progressed.

 

Matthew’s rule was that he needed to sit down when he had to tell a lie. With his partner Carrie constantly asking him about their relationship his lies got bigger, and the sitting-downs became more energetic. He also had to eat a mince pie or two. Daniel Roberts was first-class in this role.

Carrie was into showbiz in a big way and her love of performing in front of everyone made for a very unsteady and embarrassing relationship - her rule was to entertain, no matter what. Ruth Roubelle was so amazing with great facial and dance movements and an accent to perfectly match this over-the-top character.

Rachael Hope as Sheena, who always seemed to have a class of wine in her hands, was superb as the very confrontational and assertive wife who constantly interrupted Adam’s conversations. One of her rules was if in doubt, interrupt, and this led to many loud arguments about their marriage and their troubled daughter, Emma.

The only way that Adam could cope with Sheena was to reply in various accents and that was one of his rules. Switching from one accent to another, often in the same sentence, is not an easy task but the very versatile and experienced Richard Bevan gave a great performance.

The domineering Edith’s rule was that when things don’t go to plan, get the duster out and take some medication. This role required an actor who could deliver a constant flow of dialogue while moving around the stage with great speed. Debbie Munro was brilliant and reminded me of Prunella Scales.

Ian Brady had the difficult role of Francis, Edith’s wheelchair-bound husband. It is not an easy task to play this type of role, but Ian made sure that his character joined in with all the fun and he performed perfectly in some very hilarious scenes. Carrie had to watch Francis’s hand on more than one occasion.

The Christmas Day celebrations didn’t go to plan and developed into chaos with disagreements, fighting and food being thrown at each other. Was this the final scene? No, it wasn’t, and we watched as the young couples decided that separation was the best thing for everyone. Emma then made the statement that she wasn’t having any problems at school, and she simply wanted to move forward and get on with her life. Annabel Shirley delivered this lengthy and inspirational speech at the end perfectly.

Ensuring that any production is a success takes excellent direction, acting, set design, technical team, back-stage crew and front-of-house staff. The applause and laughter from the audience said it all.

Thank you for the invitation, the hospitality and a great evening out – something to cheer us despite the snow.

 Sue Cox                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               NODA N.E. Drama Rep Reg 14

 

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