Season's Greetings

Beginning on Christmas Eve and ending on 27th December, Ayckbourn’s dark and farcical comedy tells the story of a dysfunctional family as they come together to celebrate Christmas.  A marriage in tatters, lust, several misunderstandings and a disastrous puppet show performance of The Three Little Pigs are just some of the problems the family encounter.

 Ayckbourn’s plays invariably work best in intimate theatres though we got a pretty good recreation of the Bunker family home on the wide acting area of the Swavesey Venue.  Excellent use was made of the space and much attention paid to detail in all four acting areas.  The seating in the hall and dining room made for one or two odd moves at times but there was really nothing untoward.

Season's Greetings is an ensemble show and the entire cast were pretty strong, each having their own bizarre and comical moment.

Alex Priestley shone like a beacon as Belinda Bunker, a dissatisfied wife aroused by the novelist her sister has invited as a guest, but who eventually returns to her bleak marriage. 

Tricia Peroni as Rachel, her sibling, envious of her sister’s life but unable to establish a relationship of her own switched from desperation to almost meltdown in her effort to explain her attraction to and need of her male novelist friend. A consummate performance.

Steve Kennett, after a seemingly hesitant start, produced a fine performance as the irritating yet good-hearted Bernard, absolutely oblivious to the fact that no one wanted to sit through his excruciatingly boring 16 scene puppet show.

Martin George was equally fine as the mad former security guard, Harvey, who hides six-inch knives in his trousers and embodies a kind of domestic fascism. He dragged every bit of humour from his role as he shot to pieces Bernard's puppeteering.

There were other good performances too. Chris Hay in fine form as the novelist Clive, lusted after by both Belinda and Rachel and Rosie Wilson, as the inebriated and accident-prone Phyllis.The scene between these two in the dining room was extremely funny.  There was a sense of real camaraderie between John Pickering’s Neville and Paul Lockwood’s Eddie and there was much believable interaction.  Rachel Isham as Eddie’s unfortunate wife Pattie did a grand job in her on an off role.  She managed to convey her affection for her loser of a husband with empathy.

All costumes were appropriate and congratulations to Adrienne and Chessie Sharman  on accumulating the huge number of excellent props.  The lighting apart from a couple of unfortunate blips was good as were the on cue sound effects.

This is a notoriously difficult play to direct yet Chris Avery rose to the challenge and, despite an initial lack of pace, gave us a show which made a worthwhile evening and one which certainly had its moments.

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