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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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The Weir and wonderful
The Weir The Nonentities, The Rose Theatre, Kidderminster **** THE mild
October weather has changed just in time for The Nonentities cold and
windy production of Connor McPherson's
The Weir Set on a similar night in Rural Ireland a group
of middle aged men gather in a country inn and swop tales of ghoulish
happenings with a pretty young woman who has rented an old house in the
area. The drinks start to flow and so do the stories
and as the evening wears on, the inhibitions and rivalries are worn
down, until Valerie's story moves beyond the local folklore into her
reality. With just about sixty seats , the small studio at
The Rose was a wonderfully intimate and cosy setting to hear what was
often referred to as ` a load of cod', a euphemism no doubt for
codswallop. The old pub set was practically in the round and the cast
did a wonderful job of containing the action and atmosphere in a glass
box like setting. You cannot hide in a small studio like this and
the audience's proximity to the players' enables an intimate examination
of the individual performances. Jack the local garage owner, played
brilliantly by Ross Workman, begins the evening's monologues with a
simple tale of fairies and bumps in the night. Workman created a totally
believable portrait of a lonely bachelor haunted by his own personal
demons that of lost love and regret. Finbar (Stephen Fletcher) is next up with a ghostly tale of happenings strong enough to cure his smoking habit 18 years ago, a fix that a lot of smokers would like to hear more about I am sure. Then Jim (Patrick Bentley) pipes up with a twisted grave digger's tale that seemed strangely current given some of the recent news headlines. INTENSITY Finally Valerie (Sinead Maffei) stopped just
short of tears as she related her own experience with an intensity that
seemed like a personal account rather than a scripted one. Additional
praise must be given to her professionalism too as an audience member
had an uncontrollable coughing fit during her tale, an affliction that
is hard to ignore in such a small room, but never once putting Sinead
off or out of character. All of this is watched over by Brendan the bar
owner played nicely by Trevor Bailey, connecting each slot with a
selection of quips and a supply of real beverages, a small feat of prop
management in itself. The Weir is one of those plays that you could
easily get bored with as you know everyone's going to have a story once
it's underway and in truth you have probably heard some more chilling
than those served up here amongst the drinks. However Richard Taylor's
direction keeps the light and shade peaking at just the right moment and
the actors deliver every line with a focused realism. The Nonentities have pulled off a splendid
version of this play and without a prompt or performance stumble from
the outset; a pro team would have been challenged to do it this well. My only gripe came with the compact seating in
the small studio space which in some positions, including mine, required
a constant leaning to the left and right to see in between the gaps in
the row in front. So my advice to you is, as the seating is
non-allocated and the action is continuous then, go before you go and
sit in the front row. Jeff Grant |
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