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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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DIY not all its says on the tin The Maintenance Man The Nonentities Rose Theatre, Kidderminster **** BOB can't help himself. If there's a do-it-yourself job waiting to be done, he has to do it. It's a pleasure. When he has two ladies in his life with jobs in mind, it just becomes a pleasure with complications. This is comedy – but the
glimpse that writer Richard Harris allows us of the dismal side of d-i-y
is hardly one of unalloyed laughter. Comedy, yes, but comedy with a sharp and incisive
edge; comedy with a bitter taste. The shelving unit that Bob is building
stands upstage, plumb bang centre, to all intents and purposes acting as
the divider between the territory that belongs to his wife and that of
the new woman in his life. It's symbolic, too, of the frustrations in which
three lives have become enmeshed – which is why, when frustration takes
over again, it would have been better, if not remotely practical, for
one of the women to have smashed the half-built unit instead of throwing
some as-yet-unused pieces of wood onto the floor. Right from the start, we see Bob, armed with drill and saw, seeking in vain to progress with his masterpiece.
At one point, for a few moments, it drowns
out one of the women as she makes what is no doubt a highly relevant
point. The audience becomes involved with the shelving
unit – so much so that when Bob, who is a writer, eventually manages to
persuade another shelf into place, the response is a near-delirious
cheer, even though it turns out that this still leaves him with the need
to give his attention to some plumbing, a car engine and a fence. Stefan Austin is Bob – amenable enough and
likeable enough, but destined to be the hapless pawn in a sort of cross
between a tug o' war and a catfight. Yes, he does his best to state his
case, but he really does not have a hope. Georgina Biggs is his wife, Chris. She can be
reduced to tears or roused to fury, while Mary-Jayne Jones, as Diane, is
eventually not impressed by the realisation that destiny is embodied in
a Black & Decker. These are three excellent performances, centred
on a single set which serves as the sitting room of two houses. Director
Lynn Ravenhill copes splendidly with the need to spread the message that
life is real and life is earnest, in spite of any wild expectations of
laughter unlimited. Yes, there is laughter, but there are many instances
where, if laughter comes, it is that mistaken, apologetic sort that
arrives with a built-in embarrassment factor. To 6-11-10 John Slim
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