Spring and Port Wine

SPRING and PORT WINE a play presented by Wigan Little Theatre at Wigan Little Theatre, Crompton Street, Wigan on Saturday, 4th February, 2023.

Penned by Bill Naughton, this well-known play was originally called ‘My Flesh and Blood’ and was a BBC radio play broadcast on the 17th August, 1957 in the Saturday Night Theatre series.  Retitled as ‘Spring and Port Wine’ in 1965, it was first produced in Birmingham prior to opening in London at the Mermaid Theatre in November of that same year.  This domestic drama play is set in Bolton in the late 1950s and centres on the attempts by the ‘head of the household’… Rafe Crompton to hold his family together by being an over strict disciplinarian. He believes in old-fashioned values while his children, realising that outside the World is changing rapidly, are intent on rebellion!

Production Team… Veronica Teesdale (Director) in her programme notes tells us that after a ‘gap of twenty years’ it was great to be back at Wigan Little Theatre having the chance and the privilege to not only direct this production, but to open their 2023 Season. Veronica has ‘history’ with this playhaving previously directed it at ‘The Deanery High School’ in Wigan where she taught in the 1980’s!   It was obvious from the off that Veronica knew exactly what she wanted from this play and what was required to make it the success that it was!  A well-chosen, well-rehearsed cast, saw three new faces grace the Wigan Little Theatre stage with the entire cast doing Veronica proud in helping her create a great piece of theatre!  Be proud Veronica – great job!

The Cast …  there was little or no doubt that each character had been fittingly cast and that each cast member had created their own individual character but for me, the success of this play was borne out of cast togetherness and the ability of the cast to create a believable family unit, a father, a mother, four almost grown-up kids, a noisy annoying neighbour and a boyfriend, rather than individual characters stealing the show!  So, after saying all that, I do feel it would be wrong to start suggesting favourites, which is the ‘norm’ at this stage in my reviews, so where to start… let’s start with the ‘head of the household’ … ‘Rafe Crompton’ the father, played with great aplomb by Peter Hall.  Rafe, a strict disciplinarian, who has ‘The Bible’ and it’s teaching very much to the fore in his life!  Peter providedus with a really expressive performance; proud, emotional, fierce, stubborn, never out of character, he had great stage presence, totally believable and made this part very much his own.  Be proud Peter… great job sir!   Emma Appleton took on the role of the burdened, worried wife ‘Daisy’. Emma provided us with a great characterisation of Daisy; she was able to ‘show us’ all the difficulties and concerns Daisy faced daily … the money worries, the kids, life in general… as well as the obvious love for Rafe and her family whatever the situation!  Never out of character, another with great stage presence who created a totally believable character… be ever so proud Emma, great job!     The kids… ‘Florence’, ‘Hilda’, ‘Wilfred’ and ‘Harold’ played by Jenny Hampson, Maria Lowe, Callum Carter and Kieron Gallagher respectively. ‘Florence’ is the eldest, a teacher, rather uptight and a bit whiny, a great supporter and understands her father more than the other three.  Jenny made a real good job of this part, good stage presence, good diction, worked well as part of the cast, but had the ability to ‘stand out’ and be authoritative when required…well done Jenny good job!  ‘Hilda’ was hiding a ‘big secret’ and was always at ‘loggerheads’ with her father over his views and ideas. Believing her ‘secret’ will bring shame on the family so intends to move to London… but has little or no money to do so!  Maria did a superb job with this role!  Characterisation was great, she worked ever so well with all cast members, was never out of character, loved the ‘herring’ scenes… hilarious, totally believable and played to perfection… well done Maria, be ever so proud!  The two lads, ‘Wilfred’ the youngest members of the family, a sickly boy with a few health issues which comes to the fore when he faints during an intense grilling by his father.  Callum took on this role of the ‘slightly different child’ of the family and played it really well. Good stage presence, created a shy, slightly more reserved family member, which I felt enhanced the part and which was probably required to make the character real!  The ‘grilling’ over the ‘herring’ (sorry… couldn’t resist) by his father was well delivered and totally believable… be proud Callum!  ‘Harold’ the eldest boy, a typical lazy unhelpful teenager, always at loggerhead about everything and everyone, especially anything his father says or does… played ever so well by Keiron Gallagher. Never out of character, good stage presence, perfect fit for this role well done Keiron, good job sir!  ‘Betsy Jane’ your typical nosy neighbour, estate gossip who is always on the ‘scrounge’… was played really well by Elaine Delaney. Again, good stage presence… flitted in and out of the play, but whenever or wherever she appeared, never out of character… well done Elaine, good job!  Finally, the besotted boyfriend of Florence… ‘Arthur’ played ever so well by John Tyrer.  John becomes another member of the family with his involvement with Florence… he stands up to Rafe, which is unheard of and influences the other family members. John did a great job with this role, another with stage presence aplenty, another that created a believable character and who worked well the all cast members, be proud John, good job!

Staging/Set/Tech… a great set allowed this performance to flow and provided a perfect platform for the actors to shine… congrats to Paul Dawson and John Dudley (Stage Managers), to Peter Hall (Set Design), to Brian Heap, John Gostelow, Pihl Wood, Kevin Fairhurst, Gary and David Hill (Set Construction), Christine Armstrong, Ellen Fitton, Maggie Hall, Maureen Schofield, Mary B Hall, Veronica Teesdale, Pat Ashurst, Peter Hall, Barbara Rimmer and Amanda Leamon (Set Painting)
Lights and Sound… which is, as always, here at the Little Theatre first-rate and was in the hands of Owen Rasburn, Colin Haynes, Jacob Lathom, Rachel Taylor, Evie Fanning, Kim Brown and Rick Kershaw.

Costumes were apt and in the hands of Stacey Vernon
Properties and Stage Crew duties were carried out by Katie Davis, Calli Crook, Jess Sinclair, Kacey Makin, Sharlize Munro-Labuda and Anne Martin

There was so much to like about this play, so many memories rekindled about times with my family during the 1960’s.  My grandfather was very much a Rafe type person, my grandmother a clone of Daisy.  I remember vividly sitting around the table as a family unit, which was the ‘daily norm’ in those days, memories to cherish, it doesn’t happen as often now, but when it does… its ALWAYS SPECIAL!   

Thank you for inviting my wife and I and thank you for re-kindling those memories… great times!

Stay safe, keep well…
‘Stronger Together’

Jim Briscoe
NODA NW
District 6 Rep

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