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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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Christmas treat with dark centre Season’s Greetings
Dudley Little Theatre
**** CHRISTMAS is a time for families and,
well in Neville’s case, turmoil as relatives gather for the festive
bickering and fighting. There is Nev’s Uncle Harvey, played in
wonderfully cantankerous mood by John Lucock, a man boasting 30 years in
the security business and right wing enough to make the BNP look
liberal. He bemoans his perceived breakdown in society
while glorying in extreme violence on TV. Then there is Nev’s wife Belinda who is married
to Nev . . . and his shed. Theirs is an arm’s length marriage, long
gone stale, and Debra Attwood gives us a wife who is frustrated in every
sense of the word at a husband whose only interest is in things electric
or mechanical and who spends most of his time at home in his workshop,
while she spends most of her time fussing about and dressing the
Christmas tree. Staggering around is his sister Phyllis, the
family lush, who lives her life in a near permanent state of being tired
and emotional, played in a haze by Jenny Stanley. Her husband is Bernard, who tries,
unsuccessfully, to keep her off the booze, and is a contender for three
awards; world’s most boring man, worst puppeteer and most terrible
doctor. Played beautifully by Kevin Stanley, his
traditional Boxing Day puppet show is the stuff of legend, giving dire a
bad name, while his rehearsal provides a gloriously funny scene with
Harvey, already hated by Bernard, as the audience. Rachel, played by Liane Purnell, is Belinda’s
emotionally fragile sister. She is a spinster and, we discover; not much
of note, if anything, has ever happened in her love life, except she now
has a boyfriend, or maybe not, maybe just friend, who knows? She
certainly doesn’t. She has invited him for Christmas.
The lucky man, or otherwise, is Clive, a less
than famous writer with one book to his name, played by James Silvers. Clive immediately falls in lust with Belinda, who
sees fulfilment of at least part of her frustrations in young,
available, and, perhaps most important, interested Clive, which is a
moment of illicit passion to come later – serenaded by a very loud toy
and a singing Christmas Tree. Don’t ask. Then there is Pattie, played by Jane Williams,
pregnant with her fourth child and married to the completely ineffectual
Eddie, played by Phil Sheffield, Nev’s friend who used to work for him. Pattie’s marriage is hardly lovey dovey, Eddie is
never there, does little to help, she is carrying a child she doesn’t
really want, and spends much of her time nagging Eddie, who is reluctant
to do . . . well anything really. Eddie has a bad case of hero worship for Nev, his
friend and once his boss until Eddie, unwisely, set up on his own and
failed and is now looking again for a job. And Nev, played with an air of confidence which
belies all that is going on around him by Tony Stamp, breezes through it
all without a care in the world – except when there is that little
indiscretion between Clive and Belinda and we see another, less
convivial side. Even then though he finds a path he can travel along
easily as if nothing had happened with threats of ominous consequences
only for if his view was challenged.
Into this mix of misfits we have snakes and
ladders, that terrible puppet show, meals that are . . . different, the
concept that all train drivers are homosexuals, Rachel’s yes no sexual
dilemma, and a dramatic ending with a death, or it might not be as
doctor Bernard is responsible for the diagnosis. As a play Season’s Greetings needs a
decent pace and director Lyndsey Ann Parker has them moving at a fair
old lick, and there were some nice touches, such as the instant mutual
attraction of Clive and Belinda which leaves you knowing the likely
outcome, it is just a question of when. Many productions don’t have the
pair showing any interest until much later losing a little sexual
tension along the way. Full marks as well for the set building team who
created the two rooms, a hallway and stairs of a typical suburban house. Season’s Greetings is a farce, with plenty
of funny lines but it has a darker side, beneath the surface it is also
about relationships, relationships between couples and family members,
which gives it a bit more bite than the usual fare of trousers up and
down, in and out of bedroom farce. So if you want a good festive laugh this is it, a
Merry Christmas with a dark centre. To 06-12-14. Roger Clarke
04-11-14 |
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