A MURDER IS ANNOUNCED

A MURDER IS ANNOUNCED

Guildonian Players at the Little Theatre Harold Wood

13.03.15

“Nothing happens here; it's another world.” But they're overlooking the presence of Miss Jane Marple, taking the waters in this neck of the woods. Murder and mystery dog her footsteps through Middle England, and within minutes the Chipping Cleghorn Gazette serves notice of death on Little Paddocks, the lovely home of Letitia [a stylish Susie Faulkner] and her dowdy, muddled companion Bunny [Margaret Corry]. It's Friday 13^th, both on stage and off, which adds to the sense of doom.

Vernon Keeble-Watson's production has a good old-fashioned set, and some tense, chilling moments – the clock chiming six-thirty – and is enlivened by some nice character work from the ensemble.

The refugee housekeeper [a consistently entertaining Emma Stacey], the dyspeptic Inspector Craddock [Tony Szalai] and of course the clever old busybody herself [portrayed with charming subtlety by Carole Brand] keep us entertained through the convoluted plot. Ian Russell makes a nicely weird Edmund Swettenham, the cynical young writer who's taking notes for his own whodunnit. But too often actors are relying on the prompt to set them right – surely that's Miss Marple's job …

RUMOURS

RUMOURS

Guildonians at the Little Theatre, Harold Wood

14.06.2014

Something of a stylistic exercise for playwright Neil Simon – the challenge of farce too hard to resist, maybe.

He's managed a classic of the genre – mistaken identities, frantic activity, improbabilities piled high. This is the British version, relocated to Surrey, though without the nuances of class and milieu that might suggest.

Chrissie O'Connor's hugely enjoyable production for Guildonians was pacy and meticulously plotted. The set-pieces – lost ear-rings, phone duologue – were stylishly and confidently done. The six-door split-level set was a masterpiece, and the Eighties were lovingly evoked – big hair, shoulder pads, La Bamba on the huge stereo, hostess trolley … The guests at the party were elegantly dressed, though not everyone convinced as the sort of moneyed person who flits from one charity do to another.

But there wasn't a single weak performance in this ten-strong cast. Particular plaudits to Kevin O'Connor as Ken – hilarious when deafened – and Charlotte Jones as his wife Chris, with a nice line in terminal exasperation. Copy-book comic timing from Tim Tilbury as Len, with a brilliant monologue in the closing minutes, and a splendid stock character from Tony Szalai as the weary copper who tries to make sense of all the stories.

CAUGHT IN THE NET

CAUGHT IN THE NET

Guildonians at the Little Theatre

12.10.13

"I can't believe what's happened in this house today …"

Well, that's farce for you. Seven doors, three phones, and over fifty sound cues.

Ray Cooney's smash-hit Caught In The Net – sequel to Run For Your Wife – is a gem of the genre. But, like all farce, it is a challenge for any company, and devilish difficult to do well. The experienced farceurs of the Guildonians rose magnificently to this challenge, and kept the matinée audience in stitches.

If you've seen Run For Your Wife, you'll recognize the two superimposed lounges, lived in, alternately, by bigamous cabbie John Smith. Tom Hind was pleasingly credible as a taxi driver who's partial to Kit Kats and Mars Bars, "with enough energy for two people". Deft, precise delivery, with impressive set pieces including a tour de force final solution. His best friend, and long-time layabout lodger Stanley was confidently done by Tony Szalai, excellent at thinking on his feet, and increasingly frantic as the complications piled up.

As before, the two women have relatively little to do, but Angela Riches gave a nice spare-time stress counsellor, with Gill Bernie as the more mumsy Mary.

The children [it's fifteen years and two pregnancies since the earlier show] who meet online – a novelty back in 2000 – are Andrew Spong and Beth Smith, who both seemed very much at home in the world of farce, where pace and momentum preclude much reflection.

Alas, nothing is seen of "potty Auntie Rosie in the attic", but we do meet Stanley's confused old dad [Peter Farenden], dapper in his holiday togs, who had some great laugh lines and a couple of spectacular tumbles.

Chrissie O'Connor's slick production handled the doors, the phones and the cues with some style, with very few lapses of pace.

And in a master-stroke of product placement, those all-important locks on the doors were supplied by Open Locksmiths.

Who will sponsor the next Guildonians show – Agatha Christie's much re-badged And Then There Were None ?

GAS LIGHT

GAS LIGHT

The Little Theatre, Sheringham

16.08.11

Patrick Hamilton died in Sheringham, an unhappy alcoholic. His most recent success was his novel Twenty Thousand Streets Under The Sky, in a 2005 adaptation for the BBC.

But he is best remembered for his enduringly popular psychological thriller Gas Light, and it was this piece that was revived this season at Sheringham, one of the few seaside reps to have survived into the 21^st century.

Illona Linthwaite's production was impressively atmospheric, greatly helped by Matt Nunn's oppressive Victorian parlour.

William Hartley was a chillingly menacing Massingham, the killer with a heart of stone who tries to humiliate his wife into the mad-house. I admired his quiet stillness, his suppressed fury as he finds his private desk ransacked, and his caged-animal pacing as the spirit of justice finally corners him. I was less convinced by his sotto voce Gus Elen song as he returned from a night on the town.

The mysterious Inspector Rough - “is this a dream, too ?” - was played as a cheery Dickensian figure in a saucy shirt by Andrew Williams.

The fragile, frightened Bella was Keely Beresford – tense, tearful and finally, hysterically triumphant. Her fear of madness was palpable, and I was impressed by the incredulous joy with which she read the long-lost letter from her cousin.

The “dark household” was completed by the loyal Elizabeth [Madeleine Brolly] and the flighty, spiteful Nancy [Sarah Langton].

The Sheringham season continues with Perfect Wedding, Absent Friends and The Decorator.