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Stars explained: * A production of no real merit
with failings in all areas. ** A production showing evidence of not
enough time or effort, or even talent, and which never breathes any real
life into the piece – or a show lumbered with a terrible script. *** A
good enjoyable show which might have some small flaws but has largely
achieved what it set out to do.**** An excellent show which shows a
great deal of work and stage craft with no noticeable or major
flaws.***** A four star show which has found that extra bit of magic
which lifts theatre to another plane. |
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Katy Ball as Jo, Stanley Barten as Bardolph and Viv Cole as Sarah Entertaining Angels
The Nonentities
**** ENTERTAINING Angels marks the beginning
of The Nonentities 2016 winter season and thoroughly entertaining it was
too. Richard Everett’s story of a quartet of women
picking up the pieces after the death of a parish vicar might sound like
it would be struggling to create any interest or impact, however, as
they sip tea in the garden of the vicarage, all is not as it seems as
the plot unravels. In fact it’s packed with innuendo; infidelity and
introspection as each of the women reveal some very serious secrets
about the distant and recent past. There is also a fair amount of
inspection of the Church and a fair amount of humour that sarcastically
counters the mounting tension. The central character is Grace, the recent widow
of Bardolph the parish vicar. Sandy Tudor in this role was exceptional
and has the gift of making every word seem like her own rather than
saying what has been written. This was achieved with a razor shar The ghostly presence of her husband, Bardolph the
Vicar is a regular occurrence and he is seen only by Grace his wife. The
role played nicely by Stanley Barten is central to the tension of the
present day, as his past indiscretions are eventually made aware to his
wife after his death.
This gives Grace great scope to question his
morality, their lives and the church and some simple staging takes the
play from flashback to the present with a few lighting cues by lighting
designer Joe Harper. Grace’s sister Ruth is played solidly by Joan
Wakeman. Having returned from her duties as a missionary in Africa for
what seems like nothing but sisterly support; she bears a 30 year long
secret that is set to tear their relationship and the past apart. This
was another very confident and convincing performance. Sarah is the new incoming vicar, played by Viv
Cole, and she heralds the new era of women in the church. With the
ghostly Bardolph remembered as the traditional, morally upright pillar
of the community, in contrast Sarah has few skeletons tucked away
herself that bring her suitability for the job as a vicar into question. Finally there is Jo, Grace’s daughter played by
Katy Ball. Jo is a psychotherapist and so spends most of the time as a
mediator and voice of common sense .However it is Jo who ironically is
not tainted by wrong doings in her past, who is the one whose marriage
has failed. The play was directed by Marika Farr and she has
done a fine job of ensuring the tragedy has enough weight to counter the
comedy and the very funny one liners. At times the structure seems
awkward with the comedy tripping over the serious overtones but the
balance is just about held and the result is an often moving and
poignant reflection of five very different lives. In all this is a thoughtful production with
excellent individual performances. Played out on a nice set by Keith
Higgins and Mike Lawrence and set on a fine English summers day,
Entertaining Angels is a very entertaining escape from the very dreary
English winter. To 30-01-16 Jeff Grant
26-01-16 |
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accuracy of the text and a skilful understanding of her part as Grace
passes along an emotional roller coaster. She brought a real depth to
her performance and was a joy to watch.