Season's Greetings

SEASON’S GREETINGS by Alan Ayckbourn is a great choice because this is a play that depicts a family Christmas, over  a four day period beginning on Christmas  Eve when the various members assemble and preparations are well under way in the household of married couple Belinda and Neville.   There is no ‘lead’ as such and therefore the cast are an ensemble.    As with the majority of Ayckbourn plays, the audience will identify with at least one, if not more, of the characters on the stage.   The play is a comedy, but a very black comedy.

The set  was of the highest standard and depicted the various rooms in Belinda and Neville’s home. This was cleverly achieved by cut away walls indicating the hall, living room, dining room and a staircase and landing.  The decoration was warm and the centrepiece was a Christmas Tree (decorated during the performance).    The props were well used and the puppet theatre and puppets were integral to the story and deserve praise.   A lot of work had gone into creating the Christmas ‘home’ with presents, wrapping paper, tinsel around the bannister and so on.  

The costumes were excellent.  Belinda had a selection of red dresses and the various relatives were dressed in stereotype Christmas clothes: jumpers for men, smart dresses, dungarees (for pregnant Pattie) dressing gown for Neville and negligee for Belinda.   As the action takes place over a number of days, there were a lot of costume changes.

This was a production that faced many challenges.    There were some scenes when two conversations were taking place at the same time and this is a difficult technique to rehearse.  But the actors rose to this challenge.     From the outset when Uncle Harvey comments “he’s dead now” on a film he’s watching on television, to the game of snakes and ladders, we can identify with how frustrating a family christmas can be.    Everyone had a chance to shine: Alan Birdsworth was perfect as Uncle Harvey, grumpy but lovable.    Jill Gillett’s Phyllis was the rather dippy and accident prone sister, ruining the Christmas dinner and getting a few laughs with her various injuries.     Poor heavily pregnant Pattie (Lucy Halten)didn’t get much support from her rather feckless husband, Eddie played by Joe Williams. Their chemistry was good and Joe seemed very comfortable as the husband happy to avoid domestic duties in favour of visiting the pub as was Brian Gillett as Belinda’s husband.    Behind the laughs there was much pathos:  Belinda, Neville’s neglected wife, sought comfort in the arms of Clive – the only one outside the family and who barely escaped with his life.    Stephen Bibby as the rather hopeless doctor, Bernard, was the family bore who insisted on putting on a puppet show for the children, much to the despair of the rest of the family.  This was technically difficult but Stephen performed the magic, in spite of several setbacks.  This was a difficult role.    Sarah Oliver as Rachel (Belinda’s unmarried sister)  secretly desires the writer, Clive. Sarah was subtle but effective in her portayal.     

The entire cast worked well together and individually.   The evening was full of nose bleeds, marital disagreements, tears, forced merriment and fractious children (heard but never seen).    Although billed as a comedy, this play is multi-layered and while there are lots of laughs, some arising out of ridiculously over exaggerated situations, ultimately, its an accurate portrayal of an extended family’s claustrophobic Christmas.    Well done to Alan Moorhouse who directed and produced ‘Season’s Greetings’ and the creative team whose hard work and dedication ensured the large  and enthusiastic audience, went home smiling and maybe thinking about what their own Christmas may bring.

© NODA CIO. All rights reserved.