|
Perfect Nonsense
The Nonentities
The Rose Theatre. Kidderminster
*****
THE Nonentities seem to have an unfair
advantage over many other amateur companies in being able to dip into a
rich pool of acting talent and accomplished directing skills, to be able
to deliver some first class theatre work.
Perfect Nonsense
is a great example of this with the trio of actors Simon Hawkins, Joe
Harper and Tom Rees, under the lead of director Tori Wakeman, creating a
faultless and beautifully timed production that is both original and
entertaining.
This new play by the
Goodale Brothers adapts the P.G Wodehouse’s book
The Code of the Woosters
and presents it in a highly theatrical manner.
It’s both mad cap and chaotic and the rules of
the stage are deconstructed and played with in a way which narrates the
tale in an almost Monty Pythonesque manner. The result is a playful and
engaging production that takes this ridiculously flimsy middle class
tale of country house weekenders and turns it completely on its head.
With just three players playing every character
in the recounting of Berties bizarre tale, the principle task fell to
Joe Harper as Bertram Wooster. Alongside his acting role he had the job
of practically narrating 70 per cent of the story to the audience. This
was clearly a mammoth task and Joe Harper could no doubt give lessons on
script memory as he was fluent and convincing in every way.
Tom Rees in one of his many roles
with Joe Harper as Bertie Wooster
His trusty Butler Jeeves was played by Tom Rees
and again he also delivered a fantastic performance transforming himself
into several comical female characters with sometimes nothing but a
tasselled standard lampshade.
Simon Hawkins completed the trio of talent as
Seppings. Simon literally grew in stature in some parts of his
performance, ending up at times 12 feet off the ground in what must be
the tallest role in theatre as Roderick Spode. Seppings the butler was
said from the outset to possess a talent for impersonation and Mr
Hawkins likewise exhibited a great deal of ability, restraint and timing
in his collection of wacky characters.
The effective set by Keith Higgins was manoeuvred,
replaced and positioned throughout the play by the actors themselves. To
do this and then act in their parts must have taken a great deal of
energy and added a certain pressure to their performance. Each reset
though was faultless and a credit to the entire Nonentities team to make
such smooth transitions work so well.
With the story finally told and a series of fake
endings the trio ended with a flapper dance that demonstrated the fun
aspect of the entire performance and the dedication and great teamwork
all three performers have developed in each of their respective roles.
Tori Wakemans direction may have benefited from
seeing an excellent recent professional tour but the complexities of
achieving a similar result with an amateur company must have been
challenging. Any of those limitations were overcome professionally
and in a way that had some members of the audience in fits of laughter.
With enough crazy twists and turns, comical
situations and characters to keep a company of twenty busy , in the end
it finally came down to the skill of just the three actors to make
perfect sense of this perfectly staged nonsense. To 17-09-16.
Jeff Grant
13-09-16
|
