Slices of Life

What an interesting concept: ten short self-contained plays written by members of the group, each representing a little slice of everyday life. Some were as short as five minutes while others stretched to ten. Each had a different style and covered a different subject; there were two, three and even four handers, some were funny and some were deadly serious. Most really hit the mark, though one or two were not quite as effective, but each was interesting and entertaining in its own way.

It is quite a skill to introduce the characters, develop a story and bring it to a satisfying conclusion in such a short space of time, but the writers, Chris Wrein for the majority but also Tony Domaille and Roger Mitchell, have done this with great aplomb. Each play was clearly thought through, well cast and directed (sadly no details of the director(s) were given in the programme).

The stage was sensibly kept simple – a black box, simply furnished for each play. The stage crew worked hard to keep the scene changes as short as possible, and each play began with introductory music cleverly relevant to its subject. Lighting too was simple but effective, as were the sound effects used. A huge array of well-chosen props was used throughout – obviously much thought had gone in to getting them just right. Costumes were largely contemporary, but the two period pieces had some nice hints of the clothing of the time.

I must mention a few of my favourites. “Being You” was heart-breaking and so well put over by Trudie Carter and Chris Wrein. “Potty or Potage” had more than a hint of Victoria Wood’s style in its simplicity and humour. Carol Smith’s delivery was so dry and Chris Wrein was perfect with his monosyllabic replies.  “Chocolate Bunnies” was very cleverly developed with a nice twist as the end – Georgia Davies and Stuart Dickenson were both on good form. “Camp David” had a clever ending, not the one we were led to expect, and “We’ll Be What We Were” was an intriguing idea. Star of the show was “Otto” – simply set but very powerful and moving – Roger Mitchell, Chris Wrein, Beryl Buckle and Georgia Davies held my attention to the very last word. Superb.

It’s great to see local writing talent being fostered by shows like this – an excellent way for local writers to practice their art and have the gratification of seeing it performed. I loved it - please may we have some more?

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