The Graduate

When ‘The Graduate’ is mentioned most people instantly remember the highly iconic film from 1967, which is based on the 1963 novel by Charles Webb.  For a society to take on such a highly regarded and remembered film as an adapted stage version is no mean feat. But take it on Blackburn Drama Club definitely did! The story revolves around a 21 year old American, Benjamin, who has recently graduated from college. He is seduced by an older woman, Mrs Robinson, but then falls in love with her daughter, Elaine. As many people, who are familiar with this story, already know it isn’t exactly plain sailing for Ben and the play cleverly demonstrates the complex situation he lands himself in by showing some very emotional and hard hitting scenes.

As always at Blackburn Drama Club the play was extremely well cast, with everyone of a suitable playing age and demographic. This helped to present a believable narrative. The relationships between the cast were also very realistic, whether this being a family connection or a more intimate one. The audience got a real sense of the characters involvement with each other. Due to the plot revolving around these relationships, this factor was of vital importance. We think this element was superbly managed and is one of the elements that made this a very special play indeed. As expected most of the accents were well put across and maintained throughout the production. The whole cast had good diction and every word could be heard. This was helped as the cast had a perfect level of projection across the auditorium.

The nudity scenes were set and acted out very well. There had obviously been a lot of thought behind these iconic moments. They were done in a somewhat classy way, exposing just enough flesh for the audience to feel the emotions and intensity of the scene, without going over the top and totally exposing everything at once. Mrs Robinson herself needs to be commended for her bravery as well as conviction in the role. Benjamin also needs acknowledgement, as he too made these very intimate scenes as notable as they were.

As already mentioned this play was special due to the quality of performance and production. Another element which added to this, was the high emotion that every cast member managed to bring to the play. The emotions displayed in every scene were a prominent feature and made sections of this production very hard hitting and dramatic. The scene when Benjamin and Mrs Robinson reveal their affair to her daughter Elaine, managed to provoke the required feelings of unease and awkwardness in the audience. In addition to the wedding scene which was also intense, due to all of the arguments and negative emotions displayed. During these scenes the audience had no choice but to be sucked into the action, sitting still and upright in their seats giving the actors their full attention.

One minor aspect which detracted slightly from the overall believability of the show was some of the characters who played dual roles. The most obvious and confusing was the use of Mrs. Braddock as the barmaid, as it just seemed like Ben’s mother was serving him drinks. This dual casting could have been made less obvious with the use of a wig or a hat, which would have changed her look slightly more and made the change in roles more recognisable.

The set was very well designed, painted and constructed. The lighting design was also good, highlighting specific areas of the stage sufficiently. The artistic way the costumed stage crew changed the furniture and props to reflect different locations was very well worked out and appreciated. The change from the house bedroom to the hotel was particularly slick and interesting to watch unfold.

At the end of the production, it was overheard a society member saying to the director, ‘it is shows like this which make me proud to be part of the society’. This is a very fitting comment, as this show had a highly professional feel and everyone should be proud about what they had achieved. The Thwaites Empire Theatre had some issues with its ceiling, meaning this play had to be rescheduled. For the first production this society has performed under the new ceiling it was a very well put together and memorable show to end their 2015/16 season. Once again a fantastic choice and quality production in the societies varied calendar of events. We would like to thank the society for inviting us to all their productions this season and look forward to what 2016/17 has to hold.     

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