Keeping Up Appearances

Keeping Up Appearances is one of the best known sitcoms of all time. It was popular, not only in the United Kingdom, but also in many other countries. It was created and written by Roy Clarke and originally aired on BBC One from 1990 to 1995. Since then it has been repeated on many different T.V. channels in the UK. The show centres around Hyacinth Bucket (pronounced Bouquet) played on TV by the very talented Patricia Routledge. Hyacinth’s aim in life is to prove her social superiority and to impress people. She invites her neighbours and friends to "exclusive candlelit suppers", but most of them try to find an excuse not to attend. Still Hyacinth is not put off as she is oblivious about how her behaviour effects the lives of those around her; but often her plans are scuppered by the family she tries to keep out of sight. The family includes sisters Daisy and Rose and Daisy's "bone-idle" husband, Onslow. Then there is Hyacinth's senile father who often ends up in embarrassing situations as he thinks he is still fighting in the Second World War. However, she likes to talk about her sister Violet, “the one with a Mercedes, swimming pool,sauna and room for a pony" but not about Bruce, Violet's, cross-dressing husband. Hyacinth’s long-suffering husband Richard appears to love her, but seems to have an air of inevitability and acceptance about him. She likes to tell people about her clever son Sheridan and how he loves his mother, but the one qualification he got was when he did a course in needlework at a Polytechnic, unfortunately he never writes and only phones when he needs money. She is also oblivious to the many hints and the fact that Sheridan lives with a man named Tarquin and is probably gay. Most of the comedy comes from the conflict between how Hyacinth sees herself and her background which results in some very funny situations.

With this background of success in mind “St Pauls Players Adlington” brought “Keeping Up Appearances” to the stage with the script once again written by Roy Clark. The production was expertly directed by Jane Harrison with Producer Jackie Brian and we were entertained by some very talented actors who brought the well-known characters that we have all come to love associate with this popular comedy to life. At the beginning the play, Hyacinth’s neighbours Emmett and his sister, Elizabeth, are staging a murder mystery play. Keiron Garlick was suitably wound-up and frustrated, making a excellent Emmet whose patience was pushed to the limit on a number of occasions. Gael Finch was very good as nervy Elizabeth who tries desperately to encourage and keep the peace  We find that Hyacinth is now attending painting classes who use the stage in the Church Hall to exhibit  their paintings, but the stage is now set for the play meaning they cannot use it,  much to Hyacinths disgust, until  that is she finds out that Emmet has yet to cast the part of a Lady in the murder mystery. She bullies her way into the part, but then is horrified to find out that her character is murdered in the first act and she will then be playing the Cook in the second act. To make things worse she finds out that most of the cast in the play are her family members. They included David Greenfield as Onslow who only needed to come onto the stage in his vest to make people laugh - he certainly looked the part - whilst Judith Armstrong was great as the slovenly Daisy. They both complimented each other very nicely. Libby Burke gave us a confident funny portrayal of Hyacinth’s provocative youngest sister Rose who loves married men and short skirts. We are introduced to two new characters a Mr Milson (Milli) a computer geek, played very well by Andrew Turton. Milli is shy and very unsure of himself and has just moved into the area after a divorce. Another new character is Mrs Debden, the formidable no nonsense Chairperson of the local charity committee played by Ruth Jones who was spot on with her characterisation. Both characters fit in very well with the rest of the cast. Graham Cohen  was very comedic in the small cameo role as Daddy, although we didn’t see his face because he had a gas mask on and he didn’t say a word. 

However the star of the show has to be Siobhan Edge as the indomitable Hyacinth Bucket (pronounce bouquet) and what a brilliant performance we were treated to, it was a masterclass. Siobhan was the very essence of Hyacinth looking, sounding and even acting like her, with the same mannerisms. It must have taken a great deal of hard work to get this character just right as a large amount of energy was needed  to play this role and the amount of dialogue which had to be learned was astronomical. In this play Hyacinth has a mobile and she answers it by saying “you have reached the personal mobile telephone of Hyacinth Bouquet, this is she speaking”  and the ring tone was “The Sound of Music”, which was very funny and brilliantly done by Siobhan.

In general diction and projection were good meaning the dialogue and the action could be followed easily by the audience. The pace of the play was also just fine. I have to say how impressed I was with Siobhan’s costumes and make up - she was Hyacinth! Her outfits were spot on and colorful and her make up and wig were just right. I had an argument with my husband who, on seeing the programme photograph, was adamant that it was the real Hyacinth. Just a personal point about the story - I was a little disappointed that Richard isn’t in this play although he is mentioned and is spoken to as a character off stage.

Some of the action took place in front of the red curtains, but on opening there was a drawing room set for the play being rehearsed by Emmet and his cast in the church hall. Well done to Scenic Artist- Howard Bates, Stage Manager -Sam Heyes, Assistant Stage Manager- Jill Heeks, props (Sue Heyes) all the backstage workers including the excellent sound (Natalie Sweet and Joanna Sweet) and lighting (Harry Cohen) 

Congratulations to all involved in bringing this entertaining play about an iconic television fictional character to the stage. You could see a great deal of hard work and thought had gone into getting this production just right. Thank you for a lovely evening.

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