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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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Striding to another level
I Taking Steps Swan Theatre Amateur Company *** AT THE risk of
fire and brimstone raining down upon me at challenging the work of Sir
Alan Ayckbourn could it be that as a farce,
Taking Steps
is actually not that good? It certainly seems like
sacrilege these days and it is seen as highly unfashionable not to jump
on to the Ayckbourn bandwagon. What was suspect is that even audience members at
the Swan were saying they only come out to the theatre for the `good
stuff' like Ayckbourn. The reputation in name seems to pack them in even
if the content might not. Taking Steps was said by Ayckbourn to be
one of the hardest things he had written and a tribute to the farces of
Ben Travers. The fact that the title seems more about the location than
the plot says a lot about the staging mechanics as it is set in a three
story house yet performed on one level. It's a good idea more than `revolutionary' and
the actors pretend to walk up and down stairs. There are thousands of
mime artist across the world who would say `what's so special about that
we've been doing it for years'.
It is however very clever as physically it connects the players in a new way on the stage. So The Pines is the broken down Victorian House in question and the location for a variety of mildly amusing comings and goings. Ayckbourn had intended for the main players to be
unlikable people and this dark bite was missing from the STAC
production. Elizabeth (Jane Wootton) is a wife who though
even loved and adored by her husband Roland is still leaving yet she
seems quite the friendly type. Roland, (Andrew Whittle) appears a jovially good
host instead of the scheming businessman about to buy The Pines and
plying his landlord Bainbridge with alcohol just to get a better price. Bainbridge (Malc Williams) is snide enough to
conceal Lizzies leaving note from Roland just to get the house sold but
comes over as an amusing cross between Charles Hawtry and Sybil from
Fawlty towers. There is also the inept solicitor Tristram (Matt
Jeffrey) the love lost brother Mark (Andy Brown) and his old flame Kitty
(Poppy Cooksey-Heyfron) who other than a few lines has hardly anything
to do or say in the entire play, all of whom are again quite nice. The fact that the edges have been rounded off
this production makes for a pleasant evening's entertainment rather than
some comical microscopic analysis of relationship breakdown. It seems coincidental that this play, written in
1979, was just after Rising Damp left our screens and there are
parallels to be drawn in the overall scheme of things with the described
brown dingy rooms and stairwells of The Pines sounding very much like
the Rigsby household. The STAC have made a good attempt at the
complexities of Taking Steps and perhaps after all this is not so
much a bad play as one that just needs to be taken to up to yet another
level to fully raise the roof. Jeff Grant |
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