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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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A very worthwhile journey Traveler in the Dark Hall Green Little Theatre **** I MUST admit that rehearsed readings are
not my favourite conduits for a playwright's thoughts and ideas. Too often they look like a work in progress, a
rehearsal on a wet Tuesday evening, so much so you half expect the
director to stop the reading to go over a part again or one of the
actors to ask for a fag break or enquire if they can stop for coffee
after the next scene. So it was somewhat of a relief to discover the
studio production of Traveler in the Dark was close to the finished
article. The staging was simple, a black wall, four garden chairs and a
table and the contents of a rabbit hutch strewn around to represent a
garden which meant the cast of four had to work hard to hold the
attention of the audience – it was them or nothing. And hold it they did with a performance that
could only have been a few rehearsals short of a full blown production. The play has travelled a long way, often in the
dark to reach this stage with various delays and postponements through
illness and unavailability and even this week's run was almost jinxed
with a late withdrawal and all credit to Mpho Molopo for stepping in
just a week ago to make her HGLT debut as Glory, the wife of surgeon
Sam. She looks like she could well have much to offer
with a good voice and clear diction. Marsha Norma's play is set in the Maryland garden
of Sam's father, a tub thumping preacher man, with the family gathering
for the funeral of Mavis, Sam's long time head nurse who died when he
operated on her.
Sam, played with a cynical view of the world by
Philip Astle, is a man in denial, denying everyone and everything he has
ever seen, known or felt. He rails against his father, against the world,
his childhood and belief in God; he is angry as Mavis who died because
he couldn't save her, and against his wife Glory demanding a divorce. He is trying to pass on his cynical view of the
world to his son, Stephen, played with promising assurance by William
Garrett. Sam's matter of fact, everyone will do as he says
world, he is a surgeon after all, falls apart when he tells Stephen to
come with him to a new life and the boy refuses. He doesn't want to
leave his home, friends - or his mother. Behind them all is Everett, played by the
director Patrick Ryan, who looks and sounds like a country preacher who
can find the ways of God in anything – with a bit of ingenuity. Ryan, who fills the stage impressively, has the
advantage of being American so his accent is authentic, the rest,
wisely, give the merest hit of being from the other side of the pond.
This is also Ryan's 50 up with HGLT – raise your bat to the pavilion
sir! The frictions of past and present are all heading
for a dramatic climax, otherwise why write the play, and the clash in
the final scene is dramatic and satisfying. This is far more than a reading and for much of
the time the scripts were unobtrusive and there as prompts rather than
something to read to an audience. As I said rehearsed readings are not my
favourites but with shows like this I can make an exception. To 15-09-12 Roger Clarke |
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