The Fall and Rise of Gordon Grimshaw

It was a wild and windy night at Pilling, but inside the hall the warmest of welcomes was afforded to all and we settled in to watch a play that was unfamiliar to me. The play is a light-hearted comedy and there were echoes of many a well-loved suburban sitcom that is such a British television staple. Very much an ensemble piece, a play with a large cast being chosen to facilitate a good number of society members taking to the stage. 

The Overall Production 

Clearly a society where everyone delights in joining in, the enthusiasm and effort of all involved was plain to see.  This was not delivered at the rapid-fire pace of some farce-style comedies, rather this domestic comedy had the warm feel of putting on a comfortable pair of slippers. This was a pace that perfectly resonated with the audience on the night I attended and a very happy time was had by all. 

The other key feature was the relatable nature of the characters and scenes, despite the exaggerated characteristics of the neighbours making that surprising. We all recognised moments with people like this and conversations like these – and for this much credit is due to the actors who really inhabited and breathed life into their characters.

The Plot

Gordon and Marion Grimshaw have downsized to retire to the suburbs of a seaside town. Whereas Marion sees the opportunity for seaside walks and quiet retirement time together, for Gordon defining elements of his life have gone, namely his job and his beloved bowls club. He contemplates a future where the minutiae of décor assume overriding importance as his wife agonises over “the swirls on the carpet” and the bleak prospect of gazing at his wife's large ornamental pig collection without the haven of his bowls club. Marion targets a health regime to address Gordon's waistline but our married pair's hopes of uplifting seaside walks  meet cruel reality the next day, with the ruining of their picnic idyll by the local seagull formation attack squad. A succession of characterful neighbours at first introduce tension to the sitting room, usually with the comedic effect of satisfying either Gordon or Marion's short term goals at the expense of the other. There are challenges to Marion's decorative tastes, a seagull-loving litigious neighbour, a flirty amdrammer, and her dodgy car dealing husband, a pair of keen keep-fit enthusiasts  and even the unhelpfully-timed appearance by police- all of a type beloved in this style of comedy. We see the rise of Gordon as he embraces and accepts the mix and interests  of his new community and the play ends with our have-a-go-hero being cheered on for undertaking a fund-raising run in the local half-marathon dressed as an inflatable vegetable. Unsurprisingly, Marion relents too at the very last, and our couple have settled into their new life.

Reporting on this script on its own rather than in the context of the performance, and with a forgiving eye to some of the familiar TV sitcom type tropes used: There is good space in the writing of the dialogue early on to establish the lead characters – essential as this play relies heavily on the effect of others on their relationship and their search for a new equilibrium. The parade of characters that call on them allow for some visual comedy set-piece moments and a number of fun cameo and medium sized roles. I found the ending abrupt though, which I stress lay in the script itself rather than its portrayal here. The title speaks of Gordon's Rise but, true to its genre, this play works best when the effects are realised on the couple.

Production Team

The single set: The curtains opened to reveal the sitting room of a suburban house by the sea – at least it would have been a sitting room if there had been any chairs to sit on! Instead there were packing cases and boxes taking centre stage because our titular protagonist and his wife Marion had moved in that day. The packing cases  were used as makeshift chairs throughout and so believably that of by the end of it many of us sympathised with Marion and just wanted to get up and unpack those packing cases ourselves! Ian Sharpe, Ken Hargreaves and Gazza of Bay Wood Supplies reportedly made and supplied 17 new flats to the society - then used them to great effect in designing and building the set. As Amateur Dramatics has re-emerged after Covid, this sort of community response has been vital for societies re-establishing themselves – take a bow gentlemen of Bay Wood Supplies! 

Off-stage expertise for our team was very ably provided by Anne Havill on sound, by Rachelle Savage on lighting, aided by Denis Morgans and by Deanna Metcalfe tucked away in a little booth as prompt.

The Cast

We opened with a gently comedic husband and wife scene where Gordon's bowls trophies are to be relegated to a cupboard under the stairs and our actor's sigh nicely emoted that it was a metaphor for the disappearance of happier times. Looking back, this scene was crucial to the play in establishing both characters and a relationship we could believe in, especially given the unusual and extreme series of events which would befall them. This is where the skills of both actors really came to the fore and where they succeeded admirably in creating characters that our audience could readily recognise and identify with. 

John Savage as Gordon Grimshaw gave a reliable rock of a performance, essential for all the other characters to play off. Alternately bossing Gordon around & fretting over his unhealthy lifestyle, Linda Bee's Marion was his completely relatable foil. Linda portrayed just the right balance, with great facial expressions, avoiding making Marion a shrew yet obsessing away about Gordon's waistline. So, when our couple, realising how the stress of the move had affected them, then thawed & compromised we completely accepted that here were 2 very different characters in a long term relationship underpinned by love. So much so that I thought I saw a couple in front of me of a similar age to our acting couple exchange a glance of recognition followed by a warm squeeze of the arm at this scene – but anyway  both their bickering and reconciliation clearly resonated with the audience and the basis for our play was established, well done both!

First neighbour in complete with a delicious looking cake was flirty Gina Richards played by Barbie Dickason

Gina is a keen Amdrammer and Barbie revelled in delivering some memorable lines about her dreadful sounding troupe with some neatly played asides “It's the offstage we love … the onstage is pure terror!”. Her husband Tony was played by Ian Sharpe who created an utterly believable handyman neighbour, happiest with a job in progress and a tool-shed to busy himself in & they roped Gordon into their group.
Next callers were 2 running enthusiasts Danny & Sam Duggan energetically played by Barbara Soar and Syan Gallagher respectively, jogging throughout (cameo roles and a workout - smart move!) - egged on by Marion, a reluctant Gordon had to tag along.

Then we had angry neighbour Joy Parker – well to be fair Gordon had just shot her with his air rifle! Anne Curwen was listed in our programme as playing Joy but due to illness director Jenny Blyth stepped into the breach. Get well soon Anne and well done Jenny for your suitably irascible & joyless Joy! Jenny came with a bohemian half-sister Millicent Burton, played by an excellently-costumed Kath Galley who later was very convincingly upset at the mysterious demise of her favourite seagull (that air rifle again).
Completing our cast, there was a very effective cameo from Christine Davies as scheming supercilious amdram actor Fiona Fogarty - and (of course!) the police appeared. D.I. Stone was played by Brian Metcalfe as ethically-challenged and D.S. Pond by Yvonne Clavin as more morally upright and together they completed the tricky and unenviable task of arresting an uncooperative Gordon. 

The final 2 nights of the run were at Knott End library, after a recent show there attracted a very local audience. I must commend all involved in coping with the added complications of staging there. It is important to bolster our community spaces and that is amateur drama at its best, breathing life and colour right into the heart of the community. Like many groups Pilling Drama Group is always looking to bring in new members and here you can be assured of the very warmest of welcomes by a group that really pulls together both onstage and off.  I'd like to thank Pilling Drama Group and wish them every success in their future ventures – they are a pleasure to visit, whatever the weather! 

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