Spring & Port Wine

Spring & Port Wine is a well known play written by Bill Naughton. It is a domestic drama set Bolton in the late 1950s and centres on the attempts of ‘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.

The reasonably full Friday night audience were appreciative and responded in turn to the humour and to the emotion of the piece.

A single set served the whole play and time passing was demonstrated by the interval and the closing of the tabs.

The excellent set comprised a dining room with table set centre, but set to enable us to view the whole family at mealtimes by careful arrangements of the chairs. To the rear was a door into a hallway (where the front door was just out of view) and stage left there was a door into a utility /scullery area  and ‘back door’ which was shown as a separate room by a cutaway wall, over which a part built roof was seen... great perspective. The whole scene was nicely decorated with muted colours appropriate to the period. This whole set worked very effectively in advancing the story, enabling all aspects of the action to be directed clearly and with great effect. The attention to detail with period furniture (particularly table, chairs, sideboard piano and bureau) and props (radio, lamps pictures and crockery) was excellent... for me most enjoyable....I remember the period well!  This looked like a home and the cast inhabited the home as a recognisable family. The only jarring notes were  the  very obviously photocopied money... just didn’t look like old money and  the photocopied Daily Mirror... fine for as newspaper but the Daily Mirror is a ‘Red Top’ and the whole front cover was black!

Sound reinforcement was good, and sound cues were spot on with particular reference to the turning on and off, of the radio and the chosen music ‘Workers Playtime’ and ‘Mrs Dales Diary’ I think was excellent?

Lighting was as would be expected inside a house, daylight and perfectly acceptable.

Costumes were good, each cast member wearing their costumes well. The apron and scarf worn by Betsy Jane was  in keeping with the time as were the aprons worn by Daisy Crompton.  Rafe Crompton was particularly well dressed, perhaps  a little too well dressed for a working class man and his ‘new’ overcoat was lovely except the old one looked just as good (except for the missing button)! The children all wore outfits that ‘matched’   their characters, but I did wonder if jeans were commonplace daywear in the 1950’s. The white plastic boots I believe were more ‘60’s. But the costumes looked authentic and added to the nostalgic feel of the play.

The music before the opening and between scenes was well chosen, atmospheric and meshed into the story very well.  

Each character was cast  fittingly,  exactly  in my mind's eye as  a family …father, mother, four nearly grown children, a nosy and annoying neighbour and a boyfriend.  The director obviously understood the story well and her vision when positioning characters on stage was very good. All characters were perfectly visible and the table scenes were excellent allowing us just the right amount of intrusion into the meal time. The whole cast used entrances and exits well.

There was a slow start to the opening scene with insecure dialogue from Daisy Crompton, this was unsettling particularly when she was talking Florence.  There were several prompts required (noticeable throughout the play) and  Daisy and Betsy’s dialogue became so muddled I couldn’t understand it. But things improved greatly with the arrival if the rest of the family and the unfolding drama became very clear.

I know the smoking of cigarettes is permissible in public within the context of a performance, but Harold’s smoking and then joined by Wilfred, became an irritation and a distraction to me as a non smoker, it was quite pungent (personal point of view here).  But it was necessary within the story and definitely helped to demonstrate Harold’s emancipation at the end.

The play progressed well with all characters interacting and playing their parts very well. This is a strong and emotional storyline with many excellently observed pieces of human nature. The refusal by Hilda to eat the herring was a high point together with Daisy’s reaction to Betsy’s lock picking, the arrival of the new coat and Rafe’s bullying of Wilfred over a bible. There was the slight cliff hanger never fully confirmed, ‘was Hilda pregnant’? And Rafe’s very clever ‘climb-down’ at the end… never ever losing face.  Pace was a bit slow at time due to pick up of cues, but improved as the play became established. Pace was difficult… a family tends to talk over each other but we needed to hear all the words, so well done. This was a well directed, well acted, quite emotional at times, regional play. The accents wandered a bit from time to time and we had a little Bristol mixed with Bolton, but overall it was most enjoyable.

Daisy Crompton... was the careworn wife. Love for her husband Rafe shone through as she battled with her understanding of his pompous, dictatorial manner, but love for her ungrateful children also shone through. This was a woman torn, but she grew in stature as the play progressed. A lovely warm and motherly performance, she was so surprised when her (actually loving husband) saw through all her bluff and silliness…A perfectly understated performance supporting the main character of Rafe.

Florence Crompton...The eldest daughter was a teacher, a rather uptight and whiny girl who mellowed under the obvious influence of boyfriend Arthur. She had a good understanding of her overbearing father and often supported him.  Well performed, her character grew in stature as the play progressed.

Betsy Jane… I could not believe in this character due to the very uncertain dialogue at the beginning of Act I, but this was another performance I warmed to as she showed she was the awful neighbour from hell.  Daisy’s put down of Betsy at the end was superb.

Wilfred Crompton… I remained uncertain about this character throughout the play. Was he slightly ‘dreary’? But then he often had the comedy lines. Was his health weak, culminating to the fainting fit after the intense bullying by his father? Was he the spoilt boy? I never got inside this character but his performance stood out being a the ‘different ‘child’ from the others.

Harold Crompton… I really enjoyed this performance. A typical lazy uncooperative late teenager, lacking in any empathy for his father… very well played.

Hilda Crompton… A gem of a performance, she inhabited Hilda… I found myself watching her when others were speaking and she never let her character drop for a moment, very well done.

Rafe Crompton… This was a ‘tour de force’ of a performance. He lived and breathed Rafe. His timing was impeccable; his accent was brilliant and I couldn’t fault his performance.

Arthur…This was another excellent performance by a talented actor, he became part of the family and one they listened to as well, most enjoyable.

This was a worthwhile choice of play to start your new season. The long applause at the curtain should dispel any doubts. This was an excellent study of family dynamics, enjoyable, well cast and well. Congratulations to the cast and production team. Tony and I had a most entertaining evening.  Thank you for your usual hospitality.

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