The Opposite Sex

Who knew that a ‘Ding Dong’ from the Avon lady could lead to so much upset!

Mark and Vicky and Judith and Eric have something in common, and a chance meeting could have made for a pleasant social evening. Unfortunately, as they all come face to face, the common denominator turns out to be that they each had an affair with their opposite partner…

However, it was not all doom and gloom and uncomfortable moments, as to be expected, there were lighter moments and Lichfield Players manage to extract the humour with expert timing. The four Players each developed their own characters as the play progressed, Dickie Bannister-Lowe as Mark, captured the ‘yuppie’ arrogant Brit very well. As his poor wife Vicky, Sarah Stanley did an admirable job, with many a ‘put-down’ for her husband, she carried the role and supported the action well. Niamh Mahon as Judith the Avon Lady, portrayed her character with confidence, beginning as the obedient, timid wife before showing a more aggressive side to her character. Lee Williams was making his debut for the company and seemed at ease as Eric, displaying a strength when conveying a communist who loves stirring the pot, I’m sure we will see a lot more of Lee in the future.  With all plays, timing is of the essence, this was not an easy one to conquer with so many intentional moments of ‘awkward silence’, however, there were times that I felt there was a lack of pace and a few stumbles which affected the flow of some scenes.

The set was well constructed and depicted the interior of a 1980’s house, including a serving hatch from the kitchen…I remember it well! Lighting and sound effects complemented the set, and the ‘tidying’ of the set between scenes was well-executed.

One thing you can rely on from Lichfield Players is their clear direction, and this was no exception, Maureen George had a clear vision of what she wanted and put this across to the performers so that everyone knew what was expected.

Thank you once again for an enjoyable evening.

 

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