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| Cast | |
| . | |
| Act 1: Mill Hill | |
| Denise Blundell | Stephanie Dungate |
| Peter Trilby | David Hampton |
| Roy Blundell | Steve Marshall |
| . | |
| Act 2: Bermondsey | |
| Bob Purvis | Steve Marshall |
| Iris Purvis | Vera Robinson |
| Pip Lester | David Hampton |
| Rosemary | Tina Bicknell |
| . | |
| Act 3: Gloucester Road | |
| Bunny Thompson | Gill Leggat |
| Mike Thompson | Paul Jennings |
| Toby Delgardo | Steve Marshall |
| Clare Dobson | Sue Neville |
| . | |
| Act 1: Marble Arch | |
| Laura Logan | Shirley Andrews |
| McNee | Colin Townsley |
| Miss Parker | Sue Guy |
| Max | Steve Marshall |
| Crew | |
| Stage Manager | Pearl Ayling |
| Assistant Stage Managers | George Robinson, Margaret Ellis, Sylvia Cawston, Caroline Hobin, Keith Dungate, Eve Sutch |
| Set Design | Steve Marshall |
| Lighting | Toby Moore, Catrina Brown |
| Sound | Bill Ayling, John Eldred |
Reviews
Plenty of laughs in four plays
Four one-act plays by John Mortimer under the title of Come As You Are provided punchy entertainment at the Edward Alderton Theatre in Bexleyheath last week. The production was enjoyed by a packed audience and was presented in the palatable fashion of two plays in each half
The differences between the various areas of London, from the East End to the West End, formed the main theme of the plays.
Mill Hill was the first locality under Mr Mortimer's scrutiny. The stage was set as the bedroom of a house in the area, owned by a leading dental surgeon. While the surgeon is away, his wife, Denise, decides to have an affair with Peter — one of her husband's colleagues. But the affair turns out to have a subtle difference.
Peter, well played by David Hampton, has a fetish for dressing-up as Sir Walter Raleigh and making his lover dress-up as Queen Elizabeth I. Just as the couple are midway through a scene from Elizabethan England, Denise's husband arrives home. The results of the surprise interruption are hilarious, with Stephanie Dungate, as Denise, trying to bluff her way out of a situation that her husband, played cooly by Steve Marshall, finds a little perplexing.
The next play had a stronger storyline involoving a family in Bermondsey. The chirpy Cockney accents cheered up this light comedy involving a bisexual husband, his wife, his homosexual friend and a young au-pair who wants to take the husband away from the pub he runs, and his wife. Steve Marshall, making the second of his four appearances throughout the production, plays the bisexual husband sensitively and David Hampton, who this time plays the husband's affluent friend, was also convincing. The wife is played with honesty by Vera Robinson.
The second half of the production proved to be even more entertaining than the first. Upper-class lodgings in Gloucester Road are the home of a married couple, Bunny and Mike, with longtime lodger Toby and newcomer Clare. Bunny, played with sauciness by Gill Leggat, and Toby, played with an hilarious stiff upper lip by Steve Marshall, go too far in pretending that they are having an affair.
Paul Jennings, the supposed cuckold, plays the part brilliantly, throwing tantrums, not for the unfaithful nature of his wife, but for the favouritism she shows Toby in giving the lodger the top of the milk. The other lodger, Claire, is played as a believable hippy by Sue Neville.
The final play took place in the Marble Arch flat of Laura Logan, a one time star of the silver screen. The death in her flat of her lover, an important name in the media world, causes chaotic and hilarious results. In an attempt to conceal their affair, the actress, played brilliantly by Shirley Andrews, lies and bribes her way out of the situation. Her janitor, McNee, played by Colin Townsley, causes many giggles with his squeaky Scottish accent and sharp business nature. The situation is worsened when the 'dead man', played by Steve Marshall, recovers, and a journalist arrives to complicate the situation even further.
Direction throughput the production was ably handled by Maureen Hardwen. The production staff performed their tasks smoothly in what was an enjoyable evening's entertainment.
G M
Kentish Times | 17 July 1980
Restoring a balance
The one-act play is somewhat outmoded these days, save among groups like Women's Institutes and Townswomen's Guilds, and only two modern dramatists - Terence Rattigan and John Mortimer - have given it serious attention. Many playgoers will think this a pity, I believe.
However, the Edward Alderton Theatre at Bexleyheath did something towards restoring the balance by presenting Mortimer's quartet of playlets grouped under the title of Come As You Are. And an excellent job they made of it, under the direction of Maureen Hardwen.
Although each is a separate play, they are linked by being set in four different areas of London - Mill Hill, Bermondsey, Gloucester Road and Marble Arch - and by their common theme, the sexual dreams and aberrations of various middle-aged people. They are a little dated now, with their emphasis on such things as miniskirts and flower people, and the general air of tastelessness is not outweighed by sufficient wit or incisiveness, but they certainly do not lack interest.
There were some excellent performances by the players, with Steve Marshall - who appeared in all four plays - as a firm, yet sensitive anchorman. He was, perhaps, seen at his best as the bisexual landlord of the Bermondsey pub. David Hampton made a strong impression, too, both as his 'friend' in that play and as his comic rival, the deviant dentist, in 'Mill Hill'.
Stephanie Dungate was nicely uninhibited as the errant wife in that play, Vera Robinson and Tina Bicknell were well cast as the warring females in the pub sketch, and Shirley Andrews grasped all her opportunities in the none-too-funny 'Marble Arch' (more pace was needed here). Colin Townsley did his best with the heavily comic Scots porter and Sue Guy prattled effectively as the reporter.
'Gloucester Road' was notable for a delightfully RAF-ish portrait by Steve Marshall and an equally telling Senior Service caricature by Paul Jennings, with Gill Leggat and Sue Neville as the dallying wife and the other-worldly drop-out respectively.
A C H
Unknown newspaper I July 1980
