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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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One wife too many . . . First Things First Highbury Players Highbury Theatre Centre *** This won't be the first review that will
mention opening night nerves as a performance stumbling block but in
this smart little farce by former Brian Rix cohort, Derek Benfield,
there are no big visual wardrobe gags or otherwise for performance
jitters to hide behind - it's all about explanations. Explanations mean dialogue and boy there is lots
of it. Unfortunately almost everyone seemed to be struggling with the
purple mist at some point and therefore the explanations that were
intended to stoke the humour and tension in the predicament were often
just plain confusing. The principal story is: Pete is six months into his second marriage, 18 months after his first wife, Jessica, went missing on a mountaineering holiday in Tibet. George, his mate and former best man, arrives to bring him the news that his first wife's demise might not be quite as terminal as was at first thought and, indeed, she may well have made somewhat of a recovery. Pete opts to not to tell his new wife that she's
now one wife too many. When his former spouse turns up for real, neither
of them can tell her the same story and so the web of pretence begins.
What was a shame is that while everyone was
searching for the text the relationship drama was also lost. So just a
couple of minutes after the re-appearance of the believed dead
Jessica, played sweetly by Dee White, it casually felt like she was just
a tad late home from an evening engagement rather than long lost in a
snowy crevasse. Every team has its star player though and for me
George played by Robert Hicks was the most convincing putting many a
derailed moment back on track with a calmness and timing that earned him
the biggest laughs on the night. Martin Walker did well as Pete hardly leaving the
stage at any point and clearly handling the lion's share of the
dialogue. When the train did get running it was all really
good and the sustained pressure needed to deliver this kind of comedy
came back. This production will definitely improve over the
next 11 days as when it stayed on track, it clearly showed that the
entire team had more than enough steam to reach their destination.
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