OH, CAROL!

OH, CAROL!

Ad Hoc Players at Brentwood Theatre

18.05.17

Ad Hoc Players chalk up twenty years in 2017, and this quirky comedy, written for them by Eddie Coleman, was one of the first they brought to Brentwood Theatre.

So this revival is a celebration, with veterans joining the playwright in a warmly receptive audience for the opening night.

The play centres on Martin [Liam Mannix], whose love for his new-found girlfriend, “Miss Gorgeous Adorable” Carol, baffles his friends and family. “A man, a midget or a transsexual” they could have accepted, but this ??? Their reactions, and ours, vary uneasily from mockery – sexist banter and tasteless joshing – to sympathy. Most successful in the former is Andrew Spong with assured comic timing as work-mate Jason, and in the latter Candy Lillywhite-Taylor as sister Alison, who vows to follow her brother to the edge, and in the final scene, as the story comes full circle, prepares to introduce her own controversial lover to family and friends …

Hilary Martin is the formidable mother who dares to say that the emperor is naked, and there's a nice cameo from Paul Ganney as the shrink who sees Martin's predilection as his ticket to psychiatric fame and fortune.

Ayckbourn it's not, or Orton, though the play has moments of both. Wendi Sheard directs, as she did in 2000; the set is impressive, with a fitted kitchen, two lounges and a dinner table set for six. There are some neat comedy moments – the rugby tackle, Martin Wilderspin's Dave appearing from behind the sofa. The characters step into the spotlight to share their thoughts – Ganney has some of the best of these monologues, including one with Martin's hands tightening around his throat. There's a tender heart-to-heart in the deserted street, leading us to hope that Alison and Jason might find happiness together. And so they do, but not quite as we might have expected.

NEIGHBOURHOOD WATCH

NEIGHBOURHOOD WATCH

Ad Hoc Players at Brentwood Theatre

04.06.2014

Ayckbourn's state-of-the-nation play has a very topical feel – ordinary people sliding into extreme actions, their fears magnified and exploited.

Hayley Joanne Bacon's production raised chuckles of recognition from the first night audience, and although this is far from vintage Ayckbourn, there is some fun to be had from watching the do-gooder Christian siblings [played convincingly by Wendi Sheard and David Lintin] organize their neighbours to fight the perceived threat from the sink estate just down the hill.

Good character support from Shealagh Dennis as the nosy-parker from the local paper, and Paul Carey as the angry little engineer with an unhealthy interest in medieval instruments of torture.

This rather predictable piece, with none of the playwright's trademark theatrical devices, needs a deal of help from the performers, more perhaps than it gets here, where hesitation and uncertainty affect all the actors to some degree.

The challenging opening monologue – a funeral eulogy to the brother lost in a police shoot-out – is confidently done but seems overlong. The closing scene [all the rest is flashback] sees his mansize monument unveiled, but we are left in the dark about the future of Bluebell Hill and its unhinged residents. A sequel from Sir Alan, maybe …

and for Remote Goat:

This was Sir Alan's 75^th play, and was well received [even by the critics] a few years ago in Scarborough, and in New York.

Hard to see why, based on Ad Hoc's slow-paced production. The unlikely story centres around Hilda and Martin, sister and brother, annoyingly devout busy-bodies [Jesus always lurking in the bushes] who set up a neighbourhood watch group to defend their green and pleasant development from the threat without. Hilda, who has the long funeral prologue, was done with some style by Wendi Sheard, and the pompous Martin was nicely characterized by David Lintin, with more than a hint of that comedy genius Jim Broadbent.

They are joined in their green lounge by assorted neighbours. Good work from Shealagh Dennis as Dorothy, fifteen years on the local rag [though only taking small ads, it transpires] and from Paul Carey as Gareth, forever tinkering in his shed and dreaming up medieval chastisement for his wayward wife [Leanne Gibbs, who had a promising alphabetical duologue with Lintin but elsewhere was often hard to hear].

Rod – ex-army, security mad and a close cousin of Harvey in Season's Greetings – was played by Stewart Goodwin. He has some of the best lines - “The country’s flooded with them … Eastern Europe. Never should have torn down the Iron Curtain. Biggest mistake we ever made.” - but unfortunately had his words [and his eyes] glued to his clip-board. Martin Wilderspin was menacing as Luther, the violent voice of sanity [but an unlikely Guardian reader], with Candy Lillywhite-Taylor as his kindly clarinet-teaching wife.

The room – with its controversial wallpaper – was well furnished, and the fire next door was effective. It was a shame there was no light for the garden and the other rooms; or even a glimpse of the stocks and the razor wire …

Hayley Joanne Bacon's production was sometimes a little static, but had some lovely moments of conflict and [occasional] intimacy. The chief obstacle to our appreciation of this dark, late Ayckbourn was the uncertainty of the actors – no prompts, it's true, but far too much hesitation and approximation. Comedy needs confidence and careful timing.

CALENDAR GIRLS

CALENDAR GIRLS

Ad Hoc Players at Brentwood Theatre

20.06.13

Tai Chi to the the tune of Jerusalem is only the start of it. Tim Firth's funny, feel-good play follows six plucky members of the W.I. as they plan, pose, and then market their alternative calendar.

Wendi Sheard's production for Ad Hoc stresses the ordinariness of these nervous but determined women, contrasted with the snootiness of their out-of-touch chairperson [Lisa Mathews].

Good sustained character work from Sharon Sims as Cora, church organist and single mum, with her Beatles T-shirt and down-to-earth emotions. And from Chloe Lewis-Brooks as the desperate golf widow who dresses like a tart, drinks like a fish and needs bigger buns …

Annie, whose husband [Paul Ganney] dies from leukaemia, sparking off the whole settee scheme, is played with sincerity by Shealagh Dennis – they share a lovely tender moment over the sunflower seeds. Her friend of 400 years, Miss October, is Pam Shrimpton, who makes a rousing speech to Council before being dazzled by the television lights and the lure of fame. Jessie, retired schoolmistress, [Debbie Shears] speaks tellingly of growing old, and even reticent Ruth [Susie Purkiss] finds the strength to see off her beautician love rival.

The sunflowers planted in May bloom, in back projection, in late summer, and al fresco Tai Chi is followed by portions of chips.

A sell-out success for Ad Hoc, and an entertaining way of raising funds for the original Calendar Girls charity, Leukaemia and LymphomaResearch.

and for Remote Goat:

Tim Firth's play of 2008 – and the calendar of 2000 – have returned to their charitable, community roots, with over 500 amateur groups fighting for a chance to perform it, raising money for Leukaemia and Lymphoma Research and aiming for the Guinness Book of Records.

Ad Hoc packed the Brentwood Theatre for their version, directed by Wendi Sheard. The set combined Village Hall and a hill in the Yorkshire Dales, and the large cast clearly enjoyed telling the now familiar story of the W.I. women who bared all to buy a settee for their local cancer ward.

None more than the giggly school-friends [Shealagh Dennis and Pam Shrimpton] who between them set up the fundraising scheme and see it through to fruition. Chloe Lewis-Brooks made a lovely loud lush, bane of the Golf Club, and Sharon Sims lit up the stage with her brassy Cora.

Each of the ladies has a back-story, some hilarious lines, and carefully crafted speeches. A snappier pace, better projection and a more confident approach would have made the evening more enjoyable. And the crucial photo-shoot, while ingenious, struggled to convince, with no tripod, flash and desperately deployed reflectors. Clever use of props, though – knitting for schoolmistress Jessie [Debbie Shears], conserves for Ruth [Susie Purkiss] and barely adequate buns for Celia …

In addition to a percentage of the ticket price, there was an enterprising calendar, featuring tasteful shots of these plucky calendar girls in all their glory.

REALLY OLD, LIKE FORTY FIVE

Ad Hoc Players at Brentwood Theatre

08.06.11

In the not-too-distant future, slow-moving oldies clog our pavements, dementia is an epidemic.

Tamsin Oglesby's thought-provoking play, first seen at the National last year, sees two groups grapple with the problem.

A sinister government agency, all euphemisms and double-speak: Paul Ganney very impressive in his political speech, and in his downfall [pure poetic justice], Robert Evans as a number-crunching nerd in red braces, and Hayley Joanne Bacon strong as the sceptical rebel.

And an extended family: stoical Alice [Jenny Lee] and her sister, Lyn, a bright, feisty woman slowly succumbing to Alzheimers, a superb performance by Shealagh Dennis. In contrast, the children – Andrew Spong as Dylan, glued to his PlayStation, and Georgina Hayworth as Millie, the thoughtful [and softly spoken] teenager who values the authentic.

The play is not perfect, especially in the rambling second act, and not all the performances were as spot-on as these. I would mention Kirsty Stoddart's impressive robot nurse, and Vicky Nunn, who on opening night did a brilliant job interpreting the action in BSL.

Wendi Sheard's production was a welcome introduction to an important new play; more confidence with the words would have improved its pace and impact, but it was nonetheless an absorbing and original piece of theatre.