Seasons Greetings

A brilliant choice at this time of the year for this hilarious comedy from Alan Ayckbourn and such a fun show to see.

A very colourful set depicting various rooms in a house which had a Christmas tree being decorated,a dining table laid ready for the Christmas meal, a tv room and a hallway where the actors moved within the play from and to these various areas.

A cast of nine,some regular performers, and four making their debut with CADS.

A play which really was an “in at the deep end”experience for the newcomers and a play which does need to quickly set the characters involvement.

Robert Easton as Harvey was a master at timing and made the most af a great character part, with some very funny situations throughout the play.

Tony Meloy as the rather dim Bernard, did well retaining a rather worried and serous character in his various relationships. The puppet scene was great fun and the audience really enjoyed it.

Belinda played by Charlotte Root was very well cast,and made the most of a major part in the play. Neville (her husband) played by Ed Talbot in his debut performance fitted in well with the cast. His delivery of lines at times needed to be rather slicker, but generally it was a good performance.

Rosie Meloy as Patti was the long suffering wife of Eddie,another debut with James Hooker. I liked Rosie’s dialogue, and also thought that James played his drunk scene very well and did credit to his first dramatic role. I hope that all the newcomers continue with the group as I feel sure there will be many more shows to attract them.

I enjoyed Phyliss from Brenda White-Robinson, a great character part well played.

Rosemary Sturgiss playing Rachel delivered her lines very clearly, but I would have liked a little more pace to keep the flow going.

Jai Groves as Clive had a rather quieter feel to this character, and it was a smaller role. Again I feel with more experience in dramatic productions Jai will do very well.

Generally Act 1 went quite smoothly, but in Act 11 the pace varied from good to rather slow. In a comedy such as this one to move on is essential to hold the audiences concentration, and there were times when it took rather too long to get on with the ultimate climax to the production.

However I really had a good laugh and enjoyed very much seeing this play again. It never dates and thank you for giving us a pleasant afternoon on a rather cold foggy day.

Thank you also for your hospitality,it is always good to meet you.

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