Send Me No Flowers

Send Me No Flowers is the play on which the Doris Day & Rock Hudson film of the same name is based. It is set in 1960 in New York State and tells the story of the Kimballs, Judy and George. George is a hypochondriac and overhears his doctor, Ralph, talking about a patient who is dying; thinking the call was about him, George tries to make future arrangements for Judy, without telling her about his discovery at first. George confides in his neighbour, Arnold, who is supportive but turns to drink! We have the complication of a childhood friend of the couple, Bert, who is visiting, and George thinks Bert might be a good future husband for Judy after his death, even though he is bullish and loud. George even arranges his own burial site (with Ms Akins) and the plot is complicated even more when Judy suspects George is having an affair.

I understand that the cast was changed fairly recently but there were no indications of this when watching the production. There seemed to be a good pace, good relationships and lots of humour.

George was played by Roger Saddington and Judy by Jade Flack. They had a lovely ‘soap box’ relationship; with Judy being the typical 1960’s housewife and George the breadwinner. I enjoyed the relaxed way they had together and the supportive nature of Judy regarding her husband’s hypochondria which was obvious from the start. Jade played a gentle and kind character and it was good to see the change in her as she became more suspicious of George, and how she had to resist the advances of Bert.   Roger played George well. The comedy from him thinking he was dying, and the relationships with each of the other characters was cleverly developed and you could actually see George’s brain working by looking at Roger’s expression.

Ralph, the family doctor, was played by Matthew Jones. Ralph was a very ‘matter of fact’ character who had no idea that by using the family telephone he had created such a mess. Matthew had a natural stage presence and added to the comedy particularly after his fishing trip, much to the annoyance of Judy.

Bert, a friend of the couple who seemed to have a fondness for Judy above George, was played by Lewis Clark. Lewis was a large presence on stage and had a large personality. He was a rich oilman and this seemed to trigger some competition with George which was amusing.

George’s neighbour Arnold was played by John Mabey. John played the comedy in this part very well, turning to drink as he learned his friend was dying and offering to help. It was Arnold that tried to help George with his thoughts and actions that unfortunately, but hilariously, led to more complications

The final character to introduce was Barbara Llewellyn as Ms Akins, the sales woman from the burial ground. Barbara was a well-rounded character who spoke with such an irreverence about death that it was funny. Ms Akins just wanted to sell funeral plots and this business-like attitude contrasted against George’s worry and his desire for Judy to remarry led to him buying a plot for three! All the characters worked well together, their American accents were good and were sustained throughout the play.

Eventually, after many misunderstandings, Judy works everything out and we realise that the woman George thought was incapable of surviving without him, is so much more.

The set was simple, The Kimball’s lounge room, with a backlight to the central window that was very effective. The technical aspects were good too. The Costumes were in keeping with the time and the props seemed to be from the era too.

The sound, and the voice levels for characters both on and off stage was clear and well balanced. The lighting was very good, particularly for the dream sequences; it was a clever way to show George’s wrestle with reality.

Thank you, Theatre at Baddow, Send Me No Flowers was a really entertaining show.

 

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