Volunteers

Even before the curtain opened on this amusing play we were transported into the world of a charity shop.  Not only was the front of the stage adorned with ‘goods for sale’ typical of any charity shop, there was also a stall at the back of the hall selling goods to anyone willing to rummage through the bric-a-brac.  This is a rare and fairly unknown play and when the curtain opened, it cannot be denied that the set was terrific; the stage was unrecognisable as it had been transformed into an authentic looking charity shop with customers pushing their way through the hanging rails of cloths. Susan Braddock (Brenda, the manageress), Joan Pimm and Sue Duncan (two elderly pensionable aged volunteers) gave us believable and true-to-life interpretations of their characters. Billie Poulton (Leanne), a teenage girl forced on them, as a sales assistant, by their impossible bosses gave an outstanding performance very cleverly showing her more gentle side as the weeks passed and the elderly ladies worked their magic on her with love and neediness. Eire O’Halloran, (Claire, the patronising area manager who gets smitten by the CEO) performed a larger than life and overstated character and Steve Martin as the CEO grossly overacted but I loved his way of talking and he certainly evoked much laughter from the audience. It may have been intentional to portray both these actors in a very farcical light.  In my opinion they would have done better sticking to comedy and avoiding farce.  The 7 remaining members of cast were well portrayed as customers.  They were frequently on stage wandering around the ‘shop’ picking out items and putting them back and generally behaving as one would expect in any charity shop in any high street. I particularly liked the lady that expected to knock down the price of every garment she saw and the other one who was obviously buying, wearing for one evening and then trying to return the garment as it ‘wasn’t suitable’ or ‘didn’t fit’. It is commendable and refreshing to see a group exploring different avenues to find new material rather than just sticking to the French’s catalogue.

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