The Box of Delights

Thank you, Harleston Players for the warm welcome on Friday evening for the performance of The box of delights. I was really looking forward to this as I love watching plays that I have not seen before.

Kay (Matt Bruty) played the character with style and emotion, Maria (Scarlett Fisher) was feisty in her interpretation and Peter (Gabriel Allum-Sindall) was simple and naïve in his role. All three worked well together and had a nice rapport. Cole Hawlings (Barry Givens) had a father figure aura with mysterious ways. Abner Brown (Peter Sowerbutts) had an evil and cunning manner along with his side kicks Sylvia Daisy Pouncer (Anne Clifford) and Charles (James Adams): they all had their own sinister approach to the storyline. Caroline Louisa (Mary Frendo) was motherly and warm but her rendition of Rat was in complete contrast, nasty and cold. Herne the Hunter (Finn Cutting) played the role with ease. Toby the dog (Oliver Gilbert) was excellent as the puppeteer. Your mannerisms matched the dogs and in a nice way it was like you were not even there. Abner Head/Inspector of police (Dawn Symonds) played both of the characters differently with some good comedy timing. Bishop of Tatchester (Martin Soudain) was humble and caring in the role. All other parts added to the storyline to create the ethos of the performance.

The Direction/Director (David Cumming). I love the way the show is portrayed in the round so the audience get different prospectives. Different levels in a performance is always a challenge but everyone managed it with style, it flowed very naturally. The cast moving the set as part of the scene works well but some of the scenes seemed a little rushed and didn’t flow at times. I liked the cast making a train out of suitcases, they moved in a train-like way to suggest the movement of said train. I enjoyed the carol singing, it added to the atmosphere and mood. The movement around the stage in the dancing scene was really impressive. It was cleverly shown to be an acting scene while portraying a party atmosphere.

The scenery was in-keeping, quite minimalistic but effective. I was unsure of the meaning of the back drop.The props were ideal for the era. I loved the stage crew coming on and being part of the cast by passing the props to each other to portray a moving set. Maybe the crew could have been costumes appropriately for the scene. A really good idea was to have snow covering the costumes and hair of the cast who had obviously been in a snow storm. The use of modern torches was not apt for the era. I thought the use of the jail bars were effective and the making of the boat again with the cast was good. When disembarking from the boat please think about positioning in regards to the sea. Costumes were apt for the show, very fitting for the time.The lighting was quite moody and dark which worked well for the storyline, I would pick out the lighting effect for the fire in the pub and the snow storm, both brought the scenes to life.

A lovely evening’s entertainment. Well done Harleston Players.

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