The Audience

Sodbury Players

The Audience.     

Chipping Sodbury Town Hall        September 27th 2018

Director: Rob Creer                 Assisted by: Lizzie Abbot-Davies

This was an exciting choice of play as it is one of the first, if not the first non-professional production of the Audience.  It follows the weekly meetings of Queen Elizabeth II and her Prime Ministers called Audiences.  There is no documentation of what is said during the meetings, but playwright Peter Morgan has carefully crafted believable conversations.

It had an impressive permanent set of a large room with pillars and panels, with sparse furnishings, which is described in detail by the Queen’s Equerry.  During the visit to Balmoral two tartan-covered screens with stags’ heads and simpler furnishings set the scene.  Props had been well sourced including the iconic ‘Red Boxes’.  The lighting gave some interesting effects such as the changes for each Prime Minister to represent the party’s political colour.  It must have been very difficult finding costumes, which spanned eight decades, but  it was achieved with great attention to detail.  The hairstyles and makeup were another difficult area, and apart from the wig for the aging Queen, which I felt was not quite right, Kate Webb and Roisin Hall had done an excellent job.

The task of director Rob Creer and his cast to portray such well-known characters convincingly was enormous.  Everyone had tried to capture the person they were portraying.  Many of the actors must have spent many hours trying to capture the mannerisms and voice inflections of their characters and it certainly showed.  For me the strongest portrayals were John Major, Anthony Eden, and Harold Wilson, with outstanding performances of Margaret Thatcher and Winston Churchill.  The Queen’s Equerry gave a confident performance making sure everyone knew their place and acting as narrator describing scenes and events.  Three actresses took on the role of Elizabeth, Sammy Mountford as the young Elizabeth, Sarah Martin as the young Queen from her accession, through her coronation and the early years of her reign and Diane Owen as the more mature monarch, they all did a splendid job.  The more minor roles were important to the continuity of the story and were handled with confidence.  The last performance I must mention was that given by TULA the beautiful Welsh Corgi, who was totally at ease on stage and stole everyone’s hearts.

This was an extremely challenging production in many ways but everyone involved had worked hard to bring it to the stage.  Directors Rob Creer and Lizzie Abbot-Davies had certainly done their research into the political climate of the play, the royal protocol and the all important costumes, which would be well known to many of the audience who had lived through at least some of the times.  Director and cast had worked well to show the characters who appeared, and the relationships between the various Prime Ministers and the Queen, particularly that of Harold Wilson with the poignant portrayal of his declining health.  This was a bold choice, which was well received by the audience.  Congratulations everyone.

 

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