The Argument

The Argument a play performed by Southport Dramatic Club, a Bar Production, staged at Southport Little Theatre, Hoghton Street, Southport on Thursday, 29th August, 2024

The Argument …is a 2016 play penned by William Boyd, described as a ‘dark comedy’ with a storyline that starts with our two leads, Meredith and Pip, having been out on what was supposed to been a fun night at the cinema, but Meredith hated the film and is full of criticism whilst Pip didn’t mind it and was much happier to accept it for what it was. Their differences escalate, their situation plunged into new depths, which began to undermine their three-year-old marriage and when previously unspoken issues about intellect and earnings start to be raised… the first of 10 arguments come to the fore.  With their marriage now at breaking point, they turn to their respective best friends Jane and Tony plus Meredith’s parents for help, advice and guidance … but maybe Jane likes Pip a little too much and maybe Tony doesn’t like Meredith at all and just maybe, Meredith’s parents aren't the best people to start providing relationship advice!  So, we have a ‘marriage’ in crisis and many more twists and turns to navigate all being acted out in a succession of two-handed scenes. … and just when you think it’s all sorted, the unseen, the spoken about Luke comes to into the equation and with a tiny bit of hypocrisy on the part of one… all wasn’t sorted, far from it!

The Production Team … Paul-James Green (Director) and Adrienne Ledson (Assistant Director) were the ones chosen to tease out the ‘rich veins’ of comedy to be found whilst dealing with human relationships under pressure, whilst also dealing with the much darker sides of those same situations and what a great job, they made of it!  This was Paul’s first outing as ‘solo’ Director with SDC and when you know about his involvement with his own production, which he not only wrote, but was also acting being staged at the Edinburgh Fringe the week before The Argument opened… then credit where credits due… good job PJ.  I think it was more or less obvious that these two had a good idea of how to get the best out of this play and both should be congratulated on their efforts

The Cast … a well-rehearsed cast of six brought this bar production to life.  We had on display, as previously stated, some entertaining characters all of whom looked up for the challenges that lay ahead. I’m not sure that we actually had a ‘show stopper or show stealer’, but we certainly had a cast who were full of life, who not only worked well together, but were able to provided us with some memorable individual characters and wonderful situations and some fabulous one-liners. Looking at the cast, I suppose you could say we had three couples on stage…
- Our leads ‘Meredith’, the self-righteous Museum Curator and ‘Pip’ a less ‘high-brow’ PR Consultant
- Meredith and Pip’s best friends’ … ‘Jane’ and ‘Tony’ – who become their unofficial marriage councillors
- Meredith’s parents ‘Frank’ the pompous retired surgeon, now a raving alcoholic and ‘Chloe’ full of repressed anger, touchy, irritable, traits that hardly adhere to a perfect advice giver!

Our leads ‘Meredith’ and ‘Pip’ were played well by Erin Barton and Edward James respectively. Erin was confident and assured throughout; she provided us with a great character and had great stage presence. Loved the attitude, mannerisms and facial expressions, she worked well with Pip and all the cast… be very proud Erin.  Edward was equally comfortable in his role and again provided us with this confident character. Worked well with Erin and all the cast… good job Edward!  ‘Jane’ and ‘Tony’ were portrayed by Hannah Knowles and Gary Flynn respectively. Two more good characters who were involved in some captivating scenes. Loved the scene that started the row over Jane’s rising inflections at the end of her every sentence which led them to loosing the plot resulting in them being unable to communicate with each other … Argument 4 I think … good job you two!   Final couple Meredith’s parents … ‘Chloe’, Meredith’s mother played by Helene Griffiths and Meredith’s father ‘Frank’ played by Les Gomersall. Helene provided us with a well-rounded character, who had a real presence on stage, good diction, worked well with all cast members, especially daughter Meredith and husband Frank. I’ve purposely left Les’s portrayal of ‘Frank’ to the end simply because, if I’d have named a ‘show stealer’, it would have been Les… this was a ‘masterclass’ in characterisation. I’ve seen Les in many roles and this was up there with one of his best!  Les instantly commanded the stage, confident, assured a perfect fit for this role. Loved the comedy elements extracted from the role, the facial expressions and mannerisms… I’ve never seen anyone pour drinks as quickly and as often … at one stage it was a drink per line and didn’t spill a drop… be very proud Les, great job!

Stage/Set/Tech … Graeme Hunt (Stage Manager), Neil Yates (Lighting), David Profitt (Sound) were the persons charged with the stage and techy side of this bar production. Bar productions usually mean minimal … so a table, four chairs and a framed picture of Meredith and Pip centre table was all on offer with various props brought on by cast as and when… really did work well and afforded the actors all that they needed.  I did have a problem … one that I was ready to rectify at the interval, NO INTERVAL, so it was a problem for the entire production.  I chose to sit on an end seat on the back row of the side facing the bar next to the entrance/exit point… there was a lighting bar or individual lights situated directly facing me. The end light, directly over the opposite exit/entrance point shone in my eyes for the entire performance… which meant that anyone performing in that area was hardly visible to me at all. This same problem occurred to a friend of mine, who was sat on same side, but on the opposite end seat of the back row near to the tech table… she had the same problem. I do suffer with an eye condition affected by intense lighting, so this really wasn’t good for me and I’m really not in a position to suggest what could be been done to rectify the situation. I’ve seen a number of productions in the bar and this was the first problem that I’ve encountered with the lights!  (Hope I haven’t offended by mentioning this, wasn’t meant to… advise only really!)

Costumes under the watchful eyes of Michele Martin, Props … Helene Griffiths and Hannah Knowles, were first class and helped enhance the production throughout.

To sum up and if I’m being honest ... I felt the cast and the direction made the best out of what I felt wasn’t the most exciting of scripts!  Without doubt there were some fascinating scenes with some great characters and some good performances, but with most, if not all scenes, ending in an argument (hence the title of the play I suppose) the hostility became a little too predictable and repetitive and without wanting to give the story line away, after the very first scene I sat there knowing and waiting for the ‘major twist’ in this tale ...
I had to wait till the very last few lines of the play heard from a telephone call... but there it was!

Stay safe, keep well…
‘Stronger Together’

Jim Briscoe
NODA NW
District 6 Rep

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