The Actress

It is always refreshing to see a play that is new to me and this one was no exception. The drama takes place in the dressing room of a famous actress, Lydia Martin, who is getting ready for her final performance  in "The Cherry Orchard",  as she has decided to retire from the stage. Her dressing room is festooned with flowers and alcohol as one might expect!   Lydia is played by Vicki Roberts and this is a marathon performance as she is very rarely off stage.  Really well done Vicki.  The other actor who is on and off stage throughout is Katherine, her lifelong dresser, played superbly by Rosann Wood.   She is obviously devoted the the Actress and is always at her beck and call.  We then meet Nicole, Lydia's daughter,  who is not really interested in the theatre but goes along with it to support her mother.  Paul, the ex husband, invades the dressing room and refuses to leave but does so eventually when Lydia is required to go on stage.  Brian Roberts gives a very strong performance as the ex.  Margaret
(played by Julie Black), a friend of Lydia, calls on her to wish her well  and then we meet Charles, Lydia's  elderly but very rich fiance - great performance by Ross Green. Harriet, Lydia's agent, makes a forceful entrance is an attempt to persuade her client not to retire - without success!  Snipets of "The Cherry Orchard" were played throughout the production - these worked very well given the small stage.   Congratulations to everyone in the cast and also to the  stage management - a really tight production and much appreciated by the audience.  I hope you all enjoyed it as much as the audience did.


Nanette Lovell  NODA East Midlands Councillor.

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