The Hollow

This Company always manages to live up to its name and certainly didn’t disappoint with this production, having arrived for their first night at the venue after completing a short tour, with a reduced set, around villages in the community.

The flat floor “stage” area at the Beehive is a large space, and the width had been cleverly brought in by the creation of false wings SL and SR and the depth by a “back wall” together with an impressive floor to ceiling window leading to the grounds outside. Simple but effective.

The setting was the comfortable and tastefully decorated garden room of The Hollow, home of Sir Henry Angkatell and his wife Lucy, with photographs and ornaments reminiscent of their colonial past. Taking pride of place was a fine picture of Lady Angkatell’s family home Ainswick entailed to the male line so now the residence of her cousin Edward.

With a strong sense of the tradition of the Angkatell dynasty Lucy was keen that the house remained within the close family and was ever hopeful that Edward would marry another cousin, Henrietta a talented sculptress who was staying with them for the time being. Lucy had invited another relative for the weekend, the impoverished but fiercely independent Midge who worked in a London “dress shop”, and when Edward arrives as well the plot thickened!

Into this mix came the debonair John Christow, a respected Harley Street Doctor, and his somewhat timid and supposedly stupid wife Gerda and the situation soon became further complicated, unbeknownst to Lucy – or was it?

Oh, what a tangled web we weave - and smoking guns abounded!

Edward is in love with Henrietta and wants to marry her, but she is having an affair with John! Midge is in love with Edward and adores Ainswick, and when a blast from John’s past turns up in the shape of glamorous Hollywood star Veronica Craye the waters got very muddy indeed!

John met his demise quite early in the plot when standing on the terrace one morning. A shot was heard and as he fell to the ground a revolver was tossed out of nowhere and landed next to his body!

There were red herrings everywhere when Inspector Colquhoun and his trusty sidekick Sergeant Penny turned up to solve the case, and they found plenty of motives and an abundance of revolvers to give them food for thought!

Through all this Lady Angkatell breezed nonchalantly in and out looking for mole-traps, and carrying lobsters, eggs and flowerpots! All was performed in a believably eccentric and convincing style while still managing to give the hint that perhaps she wasn’t quite as scatty after all, well she actually had a very keen intellect and spoke 5 languages! An excellent portrayal as usual from this performer.

Henrietta too had great style and was exactly right as the cool and confident sculptress who certainly got the measure of the perpetrator at the end!

Many societies are finding casting can be tricky at times and in this production the role of Gudgeon the butler was changed to a Housekeeper. Mrs Gudgeon still kept an expert and watchful eye over the household and was just fine.

Midge was played with confidence and energy, although at times there was a tendency to gabble a little and the diction didn’t always seem quite right for someone of that class, but perhaps it was a nod to being “a hopeless cockney nowadays”, and the fact that she was “only half an Angkatell”!

It was refreshing as well to see a younger man in the role of the Inspector for a change, and who still managed to keep a handle on things. Doris the maid gave a nice little cameo, suitably “star struck”, deferential when required but not adverse to a bit of gossip!

Sir Henry stoically puffed on his pipe as he quietly and intelligently observed the “goings-on” and Veronica certainly made a glamourous contribution but beware of wide brimmed hats which do have a tendency to cast shadows.

Edward gave a convincing performance and was played with restraint by this reliable and experienced member of the Company who always has good stage presence.

John Christow was smug and self-centred but on edge from the outset as might be expected in the circumstances, more especially with the arrival of Veronica who showed an absolute determination to prise him from the arms of his wife! After his demise, this cast member doubled as Sergeant Penny and it was sensible in the circumstances to put him in uniform and with a pair of spectacles, creating a completely different character. The performer did seem more comfortable and relaxed in this role, and did appear especially keen to try his interviewing skills on the under-housemaid!

Gerda was a revelation and gave a stunning performance. Always in her husband’s wake, she was completely self-effacing, and the costumes reflected her personality perfectly. Although described as having “eyes like a puzzled cow”, everyone still thought she was “really nice” so who would have guessed that she would turn out to be the villain of the piece? Well, the Inspector of course! “She was the killer type!”

Lighting and sound complemented the action, especially the thunder and lightning, and although it did seem odd to hear the operator’s response and the voice of Midge’s employer over the telephone it was scripted in the book.

At this performance there was some hesitancy with the dialogue at one point and also a slightly overlong scene change which Mrs Gudgeon covered excellently by giving the room the once over!

Smoking too can be difficult these days and perhaps best avoided especially for the uninitiated but sometimes this is not always possible especially with a piece set in this era.

All in all it was the first night and everyone did really well to keep the action going and the audience guessing, and as usual from this Company it was a jolly good shot!

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