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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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Suspense on a platform of laughs Ghost Train Sutton Arts theatre,
Sutton Coldfield The author, Arnold
Ridley, is better known for his acting role as Private Godfrey in
Dads Army
but this neat period piece is well worthy of revival by the talented
Sutton Arts Theatre group. Although ostensibly in the thriller/chiller
genre's, there is a strong comic element to this production. Teddy
Deakin, played as a camp dandy by Dexter Whitehead, provides the energy
, but Myra Mitchell's portrayal of the batty Miss Bourne steals the show
for laughs. The dialogue is more P.G. Woodhouse than Downton Abbey; the
cast stick to their accents admirably, but the language has not worn
well, the frequent use of the word beastly to describe anything
unpleasant sounding uncomfortably affected to 21st century
ears. The single set of a train waiting room works
well, the sound and lighting effects adding mystery and credibility to
proceedings thanks to Stage Director John Islip. Costume was well
chosen, with the women properly be-hatted and dressed appropriately for
a railway journey, while the men are all soberly attired with the
exception of the flamboyant Teddy Deakin. As the curtains open the protagonists are
introduced one by one. Dick Kemp is a wonderfully gnarled weather–worn
station master telling tales of woe and foreboding. Warring middle aged
couple the Winthrops are played by Ian Cornock and Suzy Donnelly, the
latter of whom has some fine feminist lines, the sentiments of which are
rather undermined by subsequent events.
Newlyweds the Murdochs, Joseph Hicklin and
Michelle Dawes, draw the maximum out of two underwritten roles while
Christina Peak as Julia Price has great fun with her dramatic appearance
and role. They are all stranded at a remote Cornish station after Teddy
Deakin delays their train by pulling the communication cord causing them
to miss their connection leaving them at the mercy of a ghost train,
harbinger of death and destruction. Recreating the sense of mystery and suspense that
original audiences would have experienced is no easy task ninety years
later, and director Patrick Richmond-Ward beefs up the comedy in
counterbalance. Dexter Whitehead admirably drives the ribaldry on stage,
but sometimes the production could have been confident enough to slow
things down a little bit to help with the suspense. That speed was
particularly noticeable in a second act of barely half an hour. Social commentary as played out by period scripts
fascinates. Elsie Winthrop bemoans the caveman machismo of her husband,
then leaps into his arms as quickly as Wilma runs to Fred in The
Flintstones when the going becomes rough. Frippery and
self-indulgence are condemned in the responses of dandy Teddy Deakin's
co-travellers. Eccentric spinster Miss Bourne is indulged, and looked
after. She worries about what the Vicar would think if she broke her
vow of abstinence to take some brandy . . . purely to dull the shock of
the evening's events, no doubt echoing the sentiments of a post WW1
generation who acknowledged the benefits of austerity and sacrifice, but
wanted to let their hair down once in a while too. Tradition demands that such a play takes a
dramatic twist, and Ghost Train does not disappoint with a
false ending thrown as well. Although Miss Bourne sleeps through half of
the production under the influence of brandy the audience do not, with
strong ensemble contributions from the entire cast. To 02-11-13 |
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