Visiting Hour

Richard Harris is a well-known and popular author with am-dram societies. This play is a series of playlets, six in all, showing different aspects of life in an NHS hospital through the eyes of the patients and visitors. The author’s talents as a writer of comedy are well to the fore in the first offering ‘Plaster’ and Janice Lewis and Mark Hone do justice to the tale of the wronged wife taking the opportunity to wreak vengeance on her erring husband as he lies unable to move in his hospital bed. (Congratulations to the person who did the bandaging – most effective).

Unfortunately the other comedy items fell short of appeal from the author’s pen, not from the skill of the actors. There were three serious pieces, two of which were monologues, well presented but the main theme in each was somewhat laboured. Sarah Cleverley did particularly well in her presentation ‘Keeping Mum’ and was fortunate to have a good twist to end her story.

The set was simple and most suitable and the changes well achieved. A very competent performance from the group but I could not warm to the play as a whole.

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