NATIONAL OPERATIC AND DRAMATIC ASSOCIATION
LONDON REGION
Society ; The Henley Players
Production ; "BEDROOM FARCE"
Date ; 18th March 2011
Venue ; The Kenton Theatre, Henley-on-Thames
Report by ; Barrie Theobald, NODA London Membership Secretary
Thank you for inviting Henry Hawes and myself to your production of one of Alan Ayckbourn's better-known works. We were involved with the piece from the moment we entered the auditorium with the three differing bedrooms on display before us - Ernest and Delia's well-appointed room befitting their social status, Nick and Jan's rather more casual decor of the 1970s and Malcolm and Kate's newly acquired home in need of redecorating with their uncarpeted bare floor. This was an excellent preview of the treat that was to follow.
JAN BEYTS (Delia) clearly conveyed her concerns that her precious son Trevor would have been better off married to Jan than the neurotic Susannah and, despite what Ernest may have believed clearly wore the trousers at home. Jan skillfully portrayed Ayckbourn's wickedly black comedic twist that, whilst she was an almost super-efficient organiser, on the home front she was less so, resulting in her and Ernest having to make do with pilchards on toast in bed after their disastrous evening out! This was an excellent characterisation.
GEOFFREY ATKINSON (Ernest) conveyed the modestly 'hen-pecked' husband many of us married men were readily able to associate with - content to let Delia think she was getting her own way all the time, whilst happily ignoring everything he had no wish to hear! Geoffrey's well paced characterisation and delivery clearly conveyed Ernest's 'superior' social status, resulting in a first rate portrayal.
TIM HARLING (Nick) was required to be on stage the whole time, with much of that time spent in the dark where his slightest movements would detract the audience's attention away from the other parts of the action they should be watching. It is also not easy to develope a character that spends most of his time in bed and all of his scenes in agony, without either missing the mark or going over the top for laughs. Tim skillfully succeeded, enabling us to almost experience the pain he was feeling (and only once did I see a slight movement in one of his 'dark' periods and I believe that was when his book started to slide!) Well done.
JAN CORBY (Jan) whilst not really hankering after her former association with Trevor, Jan still has a soft spot for his naive innocence and this was probably why she determined to go to Malcolm and Kate's house-warming party. Despite the confused surprise when Trevor kissed her, Jan the actress clearly conveyed she was not prepared to put up with the pleas for sympathy from either man, especially after Trevor arrived with his bungled attempt to put things right with Nick.
JAMES GWYNNE (Malcolm) the harassed host who, having spent much time as an unpaid cloakroom attendant finally revealed just how inept he was at assembling his DIY piece of furniture! Whilst most of this construction took place off stage, we finally saw Malcolm's pride when the fully assembled article was displayed (and the despair when Trevor managed to wreck it!) as well as the problems that were already appearing in his marriage to Kate.
KAREN DU PLESSIS (Kate) Kate's delight at the prospects of hosting a house warming party soon vanished as her frustration at the state of her marriage gradually became clearer. The comings and goings in the bedroom left her completely unfazed and by the time Trevor wrecked your evening in so many ways, you were too blase to care. These features of the character were clearly displayed in Karen's performance.
IOAN HARVARD (Trevor) confidently conveyed his character's spoilt, rather immature and temperamental attitude. Trevor was completely oblivious to the effect his self-pitying attitude had on others and certainly left us wondering how long the reconciliation with Susannah would last. All of these aspects were well depicted.
GRAINNE HARLING (Susannah) Like Trevor, the very unpredictable Susannah managed to completely overlook the effect she had on others and this was another finely observed portrayal by Grainne. Susannah's mood swings were that clearly conveyed, along with the many flaws in her character. I loved the oft-repeated mantra as she attempted to contain her composure.
PRODUCTION An excellent set design clearly depicted the three seperate bedrooms and whilst other productions of this play I have seen made use of the area down stage of the beds themselves as 'common' space, i.e. doors and entrances to bathrooms etc. were shared, becoming integral parts of all three abodes, each of your rooms had their own features. I have already mentioned how the affluance of each couple was clearly conveyed by the three sections of the set design - Ernest and Delia's room was well furnished and brightly wallpapered, Nick and Jan's was drably coloured in trendier dark shades (andof course, complete with a 1970s bubble lamp!) whilst the wallpaper on the wall in Malcolm and Kate's new home was still in need of scraping prior to redecoration. The lighting levels complemented these three seperate settings, although there was a noticeable dark spot towards the front of Delia's dressing table that left the scenes played at that point in the shadows. Props and costumes also subtly coneyed each couple's financial status, and make-up had been well applied. The programme contained a good mix of relevant text, photographs and advertisements (but whilst the wording under the NODA crest on the cover was correct, the caption under the crest used on page 2 still used a version that is technically wrong). We were made welcome by your friendly front of house team.
In my capacity as Asst. Regional Rep. for both area 13 and 14 I get to see many productions in the course of a year when either accompanying the Regional Rep or representing him during busy periods. Your show certainly ranks very highly in my estimation of those I have reviewed this year and I shall be recommending it to Henry as a strong conteder for the Drama Award when he considers his Regional Recommendations.
Thank you for providing me with a very entertaining evening.
Barrie
NODA London Membership Secretary