Sand Castles

Now this was something a bit different and very quintessentially British, a play I had never heard of by Bob Larbey whose writing credits include some of the great late twentieth century British Sitcoms: Please Sir, The Good Life, The Fenn Street Gang, Ever Decreasing Circles, On The Up and Brush Strokes to name but a few.

This gentle comedy, directed by Josh Rush is set on an unnamed English beach and centres around William and Margaret Patterson who have been spending their summer holidays at their beach hut, with very much the attitude that an Englishman’s home is his (sand) castle and have turned the area around their hut; which is in fact public space, into their own fiefdom, until along comes Doug and his two ‘nieces’ who have rented the hut next door and don’t give hoot for such niceties and just want to enjoy the sun and the beach. Add in Stan and Bernice Bilet, a brash couple who own the beech hut on the other side of Doug’s, who also make an illegal land grab in front of their hut. Then along comes three ladies who are determined to enforce their rights (as they see it) to use the elevated area in front of the beach huts, by putting up a wind break and beach hut wars are set to kick off, disturbing the Patterson’s years of peaceful holidays.

The set by Natalie Shearere was very well thought out and actually started outside the TAD’s Theare with an arrowed sign saying, ‘To The Beach.’ In the foyer the theme was continued with an display of nets, fish and other seaside items. Neat!  The actual set on the stage was three well individually decorated, traditional beach huts with a blue sky background. As we opened the Pattersons had a table and chairs setup outside theirs and were about to enjoy afternoon tea. We were certainly at the seaside!

Lighting and sound by Issac Roitt finished the set off and gave us a very authentic seaside atmosphere. 

The eclectic collection of beachwear, from dresses, to shorts, swimwear and coats were put together by Josh Rush, Sarah Benjamin and the Cast. Props from beach chairs and folding tables to kites and cups and saucers were also collated by Josh Rush and Sarah Benjamin.

This was great mixture of personalities giving a study in attitudes and relationships. Mal Wells played the retired William Patterson, a calm polite personality who has a legal background and is continually pointing out the folly of trying to claim the land in front of the beach huts. He likes nothing better than to stare out across the beach and sea with his binoculars commenting on children about to be carried out to sea on rubber buoyancy aids – he also seemed to enjoy the presence of any young ladies.  His wife Margaret, played by Helen Morris likes nothing better than to drink tea and read her book, until their peace is disturbed by Doug’s arrival. Great portrayal of a retired middle class couple whose noses are suddenly put out of joint.

Adam Arwan as Stan Bilet was all together the opposite of William, loud and brash arriving with his wife Bernice, her sister Pauline and his aging mother who isn’t as senile as she seems. Keen to tell everybody he is a car salesman specialising in 4x4s. He soon decides to appropriate the area outside his hut and marks it off with troughs of flowers. He pitched the rollercoaster of this character perfectly and I particularly liked the way he is struggling to react when obviously out manoeuvred and clearly on the losing side of the argument.

His wife Bernice well played by Emma Lidford was the flashy rich nouveau type who very much liked a glass of sparkling wine and was equally as incensed by the arrival of the windbreak in front of them.

Very good subplot involving Bernice’s sister Pauline, very well pitched by Jan Beth who starts off very insecure and introspective but blossoms into a much more outgoing personality as her relationship with Doug progresses.

Stan’s supposedly senile mother, perfectly played by Sarah Benjamin, dressed in overcoat and headscarf sat on a chair mostly asleep but periodically throwing in a superbly timed caustic comment. Wonderful comic scene of panic when she goes walkabout and everybody rushes around looking for her.

Doug, played by the director Josh Rush after the original actor had to drop out, and it’s never easy to both direct and take a lead role, dropped his clutter haphazardly in front of his hut, which produced one of best comedic moments sparking curiosity between the ladies who started looking through his things only to be caught red handed. I loved his laidback attitude in contrast to the pedantic William and the brash Stan.

Accompanying Doug were his two teenage(ish) nieces, Debs and Becky played by Claire Wilden and Arlo Hooper, providing some speculation as to their real relationship with Doug, which at the end of the day (spoiler alert) turned out to be entirely innocent.

At various random times we had various beachcombers cross the set. First, we had Jane Murdock, dressed all in black with baseball cap on back to front,  complete with metal detector dropping in for a chat a couple of times  and then we had Mr and Mrs Kite played by Sam Kenealy and Robina Chatham, who frantically rushed across the stage several times in a vain attempt to launch said kite! All adding to the bizarre and the comedic. And not to forget The Boys, Jacob and Isaac Lidford as two young lads enjoying a day out on the beach with a need for a loo.

During the interval a windbreak had been erected across the front of the stage and as we started the second act three protesting ladies, Mrs Penfold (Sarah Vanstone-Howe), Mrs Newman (Emily Venn) and Ida (Michelle Scowen) were sat in front of it ready to make their point about Beach Hut owners taking over the area in front of their huts by refusing to leave. This led to what was probably the most comedic scene in the play. Superb caustic but comedic dialogue ensued. Brilliant stuff!  

Overall, this was very well done. The pace could have picked up in places, but this was the opening night and I’ve no doubt it would have improved during the run. And please put some liquid in the teacups, it never looks authentic when actors pretend to drink out of empty vessels. And sadly, it was very small audience, who thoroughly enjoyed it but it certainly deserved a fuller house, the locals missed a treat!

So well done to Josh Rush, his cast and crew, a lot of work had obviously gone into it and it was thoroughly entertaining and thank you for the hospitality, which was first class and very welcome on a hot stuffy night.

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