She Stoops to Conquer

Characters abound in plays such as this and they were certainly there in abundance in this production, from the high born to those of the servant class.  The whole cast gave of their all and it was such a good idea to set this in the round, coped with very well by all the actors.

The costumes and the props brought us straight into the Georgian era, thanks to Ciaran Keeley who also gave us a Tony Lumpkin not to be forgotten!  He was the apple of his mother’s eye – Debbra Bishopp brought Mrs Hardcastle to life in excellent fashion, with Bob Mardle giving a great performance as Mr Hardcastle.  Two more characters completed the Hardcastle family – Miss Hardcastle played by Vanessa Burns and Miss Neville, the niece of Mrs Hardcastle played by Sally Ruane, both giving performances of these ladies which were so right.

I just loved seeing all the servants, particularly when they were moving the furniture around!  Good performances from them all.

Jim Edwards and Tom Messmer as Mr Hastings and Young Marlow were definitely young men about town and brought their characters very much to life.  Dudley Dean appeared very near the end of the piece as Sir Charles Marlow, giving great value to the part.

As always, so much work has to be done behind the scenes and the actual set design was delightful, with sound and lighting being ideal.

Director Helen Halliday and Producer Ciaran Kiely are to be congratulated, together with the whole company for bringing Oliver Goldsmith’s masterpiece to life in such a charming way.

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