Two

After a long hiatus due to the Coronavirus pandemic, Kingsley Players are back with a bang!  Their brilliant production of Jim Cartwright’s ‘Two’ played to a socially distanced sold out audience last week and it’s not hard to see why this society are multi-NODA award nominees.  This production was superbly directed by Tom Hayes who had his fair share of issues when throughout the rehearsal process.  Because of the pandemic, rehearsals were mostly held remotely via zoom.  At times, the cast of two were able to rehearse in person but with the constant Governmental rule changes, this process was hindered and ever changing.  Despite all of this, I cannot see how it had a negative impact on the acting or direction.  In my opinion the direction was excellent.  I loved the way the two actors mimed the use of props, especially the characters of the Landlords.  The attention to detail meant that it was abundantly clear from the opening scene what the actors were doing.  Their miming really helped establish location and set the scene for the rest of the play.  The audience could easily visualise what the bar was like, and it was clear that there was a lot of time spent on this during rehearsals.  The clever use of coats helped establish character throughout in this multi-role play, and each area of the stage was used at various times which meant that each audience member was thought about.   The music choices really helped with setting the tone and with scene changes, which were kept to a minimum.  Overall, the pace of this play was fantastic, and the audience were treated to a brilliant night at the theatre!  Well done to Tom Hayes for a brilliant production.

The two actors didn’t use mics, nor did they need them.  Their excellent projection and articulation meant that we could hear every word.  There were times throughout when I would’ve preferred the lighting to be a little more varied, especially with a smaller/tighter spotlight on certain characters.  We did have this at one point for the old man stood at the bar, but it would’ve been great to have more of this.  I also felt that the lighting could’ve enhanced the piece more to highlight certain bits.  This was used well in the disco part and when the landlords were talking about their son’s anniversary – I just felt there were other opportunities to explore lighting further (I’m being really picky here).  The sound cues were generally good, but the final sound cue was a little early, which impacted slightly on the landlady’s final emotional speech about her son.

The two actors who multi-rolled were superb.  Neil Silcock was excellent, especially with his humour and physical comedy.  His storytelling and audience interaction was brilliantly funny, as was his 80’s style shell-suit!  Neil also showcased his excellent ear for accents and was thoroughly entertaining throughout.  He brought a brilliant energy and focus to each character and each character was different from the rest.  For me, Neil was one of the best actors that I’ve seen in this production.

Sue Elliott was a brilliant counterpart to Neil.  She brought a new approach to some of the characters that I haven’t seen before.  I have to say, her projection was excellent – I could hear every word.  I liked the energy she brought to every character.  I loved her Old Lady and Yorkshire walker woman characters most– great attention to detail.  Sue and Neil had a brilliant rapport with each other and the landlords; reminiscent of Jack and Vera from Coronation Street.

I could go on and on with more positive superlatives to describe this production; and I know it’s not just because I haven’t been to the theatre in a long while, this really was a brilliant production, worthy of a sell-out audience.

I thank Kingsley Players for their kind hospitality and wish them all the very best for their upcoming production of Alice in Wonderland in a few weeks’ time.

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