Two Radio Plays

I was pleased to see that The Mendip Players had decided to hold another night of radio plays after their previous success back in September 2017.  It was also nice to see that they had made a few positive changes from the previous year including adding an extra night and raising the sound effect tables to make them more visible to all.  Although, I did miss the moustache cocktail.

As before, the stage was set up to be incredibly basic.  The whole stage was black and empty apart from three benches, some radio microphones and an “on air” sign that lit up at the beginning of each act.  This produced a great visual and completely sold the overall effect.

Costumes for this production were actually very good.  Bearing in mind we were watching a radio show, there was no need to really use any costumes but, all the actors in the first act play “Murder by the Book” were actually dressed as their characters, which helped add an extra level to the whole proceedings.  For the second act play “Clare in the Community” all the actors were dressed in a similar way, blue jeans and white shirt, which again gave a lovely style to the act.

Sound and lighting were very good and there were no problems here at all.

The first act was a murder mystery called “Murder by the Book” by Stephen Sheridan.  This was a good fun production and revolved around Agatha Christie loving sisters Dorothy and Margaret, superbly played by Gillian Salt and Bea Cook, solving the murder of local bookshop owner Ernest Pepper.  This was a really funny play and was well acted by all those involved.  I especially liked Richard Wills’ different accents as Dr Fish, Major Bluett and especially Sergeant McBride.

The second act was an episode of “Clare in the Community” called “Name Calling” and featured married couple Clare and Brian dealing with life after their baby and all the “interesting” characters that inhabit their world.  This was another well chosen, funny play and was much more sitcom orientated then the first one.  Again, there were many great performances but my favourite had to go to another fabulous accent, this time from Michèle Ball as Megan.

Everyone played their parts so well and it was a testament to the acting ability of the cast that, every so often, I found myself forgetting I was watching a “radio play” and that there was no real scenery on the stage.  Although everyone was superb on the night, I would like to give some extra praise to young Nathan Tabberer who managed to give three very different, yet solid, performances as Colin, Simon and Keith.

However, as at the last radio play night, the real star of the show was the sound effects and I am so pleased that they were in a much more prominent position this time.  The whole sound effects team did a fantastic job and it was always interesting to see how each effect was made, the audience favourite had to be the electronic fish that doubled as a stair lift!  During the evening I was informed that ill health had unfortunately meant that Barbara Wheal had to step off the stage.  Therefore, it was lovely to see her being so actively involved in the sound effects team, which really embodies the “family” feel that is always present at a Mendip Players production.

Overall, this was yet another fantastically entertaining night from The Mendip Players.  Having a break between the two acts for a fish and chip supper, was a wonderful idea and it gave everyone time to chat with other audience members.  Although, the down side was I did feel a little bit sluggish during the second half.  Well done to Sylvie Barnham and her team for another wonderful show.

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