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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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139 characters,39 steps and even more laughs
The 39 Steps Swan Theatre Amateur Company Swan Theatre, Worcester **** CRACKPOT comedy
and moments of pure farce make for an eye-wiping evening in Curtis
Fulcher's production. A company of five play 139characters, often at
full pelt, often with Scots accents of amusing unpredictability. The exception is Richard Hannay, the suave,
pipe-smoking, action-packed, unfazed, all-English hero, the man for whom
desperate situations were surely created to ensure that he could have a
crack at them. Chris Broadfield plays him beautifully. Come what may,
there is not a tremor in sight. He is the man who meets life's alarming
moments head-on: calm but quick-thinking, a gentleman to his
finger-tips, especially when he is handcuffed to a lady who is trying to
take her stockings off. The lady is Jane Wootton. Two ladies, in fact –
Annabella and Pamela. She is splendid in desperation, supportive in
hours of need, as straight-faced as necessary when that is what a comic
moment requires. It's a performance that she wears like a particularly
bespoke glove. Michael King and Ian Mason fill in most of the
other roles – 134 between them – with spirited inspiration that includes
a double act as a pair of hotel proprietors, and Helen Lammas is a
pleasure to have about the place as Margaret and Mrs Jordan, as well as
showing her skill as a high-kicking scene-shifter. This hard-working quintet fully deserve the
excellent support they receive from the backstage team in a production
that is often an inventive joy. It draws the biggest laugh I have ever
heard accorded to a lady with a knife in her back. But there are also
moments that include the silent-film send-up and the mass escape through
a tiny window. Anything, at any time, seems to be on the cards. Splendid support comes from a wide range of
musical moments. It's a happy, happy venture. To 21-05-11, John Slim |
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