Hannah Danby, left, as Jane, Chris Kay as
Dennis,, Shelly Blackmore as Pauline, and Stefan Austin as Roger.
Pictures: Colin Hill.
One for the road
The Nonentities
The Rose Theatre, Kidderminster
****
One of Willy
Russell’s lesser known works,
One For The Road
was first written in 1976 but
was revised and updated by Russell in 1985. There are many references to
the period, such as Terry Wogan as a prime time interviewer, Russell
Harty, Richard Clayderman and Margaret Thatcher’s tax policy, which may
have gone over the heads of anyone under the age of 40 but that doesn’t
get in the way of the fun.
The action takes place in the living room of a
typical suburban house complete with a swinging door that leads into the
kitchen and a serving hatch that is used many times to great comic
effect. The decor is very much of the period with great attention to
detail even down to the authentic looking gaudy curtains that would have
been de rigueur.in all the best middle class households of the time. And
of course, there’s the Queen Anne bureau against the wall, which plays a
very important role.
The plot is centred around a small dinner party
given by Pauline to celebrate the 35th Birthday of husband Dennis, which
is attended by neighbours Jane and Roger and the underlying tension of
surviving a mundane existence which gradually unravels as the evening
progresses.
There are many laugh out loud moments which the
cast deliver with perfect comic timing.
Chris Kay as an elevated Dennis with
Shelly Blackmore as wife, Pauline
Just exactly who has been decapitating the garden
gnomes and painting the neighbour’s home grown vegetables to give them
the appearance of intimate human parts?
The constant interruptions of Dennis’s parents on
the phone, who are desperately trying to find their way to the house but
never actually arrive.
Then there’s the running joke of Dennis’s
loathing of country singer John Denver which comes to a magnificent
punchline in the final act.
Chris Kay as Dennis uses many facial expressions
to deliver a convincing performance of a man who hides a few secrets and
a desire to escape his typical run of the mill life. Digging a tunnel
under his kitchen a la The Great Escape isn’t beyond him.
His long suffering wife is ably played by Shelly
Blackmore who tries to impress her guests with her culinary skills by
cooking hachis parmentier which turns out to be a posh version
of good old cottage pie.
The sophisticated neighbour Jane is played with
appropriate superiority and snobbishness by Hannah Danby. However the
facade of her seemingly perfect life fades as the night goes on.
Stefan Austin as Jane’s husband Roger initially
comes across as a confident ‘one of the blokes’ but it turns out he has
been hiding quite a few secrets himself.
It’s clear that the cast were enjoying the
absurdity of their roles and played on the obvious chemistry between
each other.
Congratulations also, to Director Richard Taylor
for delivering a nostalgic and thought-provoking evening of delightful
and amusing entertainment. To 31-01-26.
Alan Birch
26-01-26
The Rose Theatre
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