Wife After Death

Firstly, congratulations on some great social media prior to the play, I found it really interesting to see how the set had been constructed which led to an air of excitement before I had even travelled to the venue so congratulations to Steve Baines (Stage Manager) and his team. At a time of minimalism and projection, it was really great to see such a great set in such a compact venue. Congratulations also to the front of house staff, on our arrival it was a pleasure to be greeted so well, and there was a real buzz across the venue, with a real community flare.

I am a great fan of this genre of play, and this was no exception, Harvey (Richard Kirkland) and Vi (Rachel Humphries) gave us great continuity during the performance with super comedic delivery which kept us engaged and laughing throughout. Too often actors throw away the opportunity to deliver well written comedy, but both delivered superbly, and built a great relationship with the audience.

Now our intrigue is already heightened as the play starts as there is a coffin in the front room, something that we don’t see anymore, but was common during the time of the play. Sue Cope as the widowed Laura, delivered a glamorous performance that made us all believe that Dave her husband was in the coffin laid out in the room. Sue as Laura was a strong glamorous woman that was taking control of the situation and little phased her, despite the constant plot changes, she was the perfect calm in the storm.

Any opening night nerves that Jackson Young playing Kevin may have had, soon disappeared and he had us rolling in laughter as the play developed, particularly when dealing with Dave’s remains after the funeral. Jackson was also responsible for lighting and sound, which provided the impact required. Neve Smith as Jane also provides us with another plot twist and again adds to the magic of the comedy without detracting from the pace of the production. Last but not least is Jo Russell as Kay, again another great twist that added to the evenings journey. Jo provided that air of mystery and kept us guessing as to what she would do and the impact she would have.

Congratulations should also go to the support of all the cast and crew for costumes, props and set, that took me back to my younger years. I also have to say well done to the prompt, a good prompt is very hard to find, the prompt was clear and just the right level and tone and timing of delivery was also good.

I really enjoyed this performance and congratulate you all on a job well done, clearly a very talented group of people who enjoy entertaining others. I also look at the audience when watching a performance to see if they are involved with the play, not only were the audience engaged but were waiting for the next plot twist, and were thoroughly enjoying it. Well done to everyone involved on a thoroughly enjoyable evening.

© NODA CIO.  All rights reserved 

© NODA CIO. All rights reserved.