Write About What You Know

Write About What You Know is good advice for any novice writer but if Paul Gisby, author of this play, took that advice, he must have had some very strange experiences in his life! Nevertheless, it resulted in an absorbing and amusing evening’s entertainment. The play is a painfully comic evocation of a writers’ circle where members struggle with a variety of literary forms and with each other. They meet each month in the local scout hut to discuss their work, exchange tips and seek mutual encouragement. But closer examination of this disparate group of writers reveals a whirlwind of love affairs, petty jealousy, rivalry and literary one-upmanship. This is punctuated with readings of often excrutiatingly amateur penmanship.

Director Roger Mitchell, in his first (and very promising) production for this popular group, has assembled a talented cast who all took the characters they were given and made them their own. John Morris is very convincing as the pompous know-it-all Colin, the only one to actually have his work published. His balloon is punctured by the delightfully literal Barbara (Carol Smith) and by young aspiring author Peter (Chris Wrein) asking if his hero (obviously based on himself) was gay. Both characters were well portrayed.

Julie Williams as Annabel , the secretary of the group, perfectly showed the devastation her character must have felt reading out a letter from her husband saying he was leaving her, having thought it was a poem to be read to the group. Her later appearance, drunk on sloe gin, was also well judged – never over the top. Another top-notch performance came from Amy Gould as Louise, the shy and retiring librarian who usually says nothing but suddenly bursts out of her shell reading the bodice-ripper that she has penned. She appears in Act 2 totally changed, in motorcycle leathers and sickeningly loved up with Peter (similarly attired).

Toni Tovery plays Liz Marshall, around whom the play revolves, with great confidence and style. A teacher, feminist and newcomer to the group she sweeps in and takes over. Her reading of the poem about childbirth was masterful – you could almost see the blood and gore on the floor and really felt you shouldn’t be laughing. Cliff Mullins as Stanley really gained our sympathy as the prostate sufferer, until he bored us with his sci-fi story with preposterous characters and names. He ended up locked in the hut, providing a nice twist at the end of the play.  Annabel’s errant husband Brian (Rick Tovery) – a completely unsympathetic character - skulks in at the start of Act 2, siding with Colin against the women and being utterly disparaging about everyone else’s literary efforts.

Congratulations to the set designers and constructors on producing an excellent box set with great props. Great attention to detail: the exploding heaters, the “I love…” T-shirts and the Star Trek-style communicator were all really nice touches. Good sound effects and lighting also added to the overall picture.

I thoroughly enjoyed this (very well-attended) first night of the group’s 90th production. I’m sure they will go on to have many more successes in the future.    

By the way, the cushions on the seats are a great idea!

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