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| Cast | |
| Susan Traherne | Gill Rafferty |
| Alice Park | Stephanie Dungate |
| Raymond Brock | Tony Donnelly |
| Codename Lazar | David Hampton |
| Leonard Darwin | Derek Goulding |
| Mick | Paul Jennings |
| Louise | Tracey Rafferty |
| M Wong | Cliff Williams |
| Mme Wong | Freda Phillips |
| Dorcas Frey | Oonagh Delahunt |
| John Begley | Martin Shaw |
| Sir Andrew Charleson | Brian Warner |
| Frenchman | Ross Holland |
| Another Frenchman | Steve Marshall |
| Crew | |
| Stage Manager | Keith Dungate |
| Assistant Stage Managers | Eve Sutch, Maureen Hardwen |
| Set Designer | Steve Marshall |
| Costumes and Properties | Chris Milkins, Jean Gordon, Caroline Hobin, Vera Robinson, Fay Rose, Jean Midlane |
| Lighting | Alan Dawson, Alan Hunt |
| Sound | Bill Ayling |
Review
Gill leads good
team to success
When director Steve Marshall tackled a difficult play
at the Edward Alderton Theatre, Bexleyheath, he and the cast overcame
their problems with astonishing success.
A full house were treated to an excellent performance of Plenty by David Hare. Gill Rafferty playing the lead role of Susan Traherne was superb. Some scenes called for difficult acting, but she portrayed them with the skill of a professional actress.
As Susan Traherne, an English woman who helped the French Resistance during World War II, she had to act a varied and unpredictable character. During the character's progress in the twenty years after the war, she changed from the sane frightened young girl, through her life as a drop-out in London, and eventually the insane wife of a civil servant in the Foreign Office. She handled such demanding acting seemingly with ease and was supported by an equally strong cast.
Her civil servant husband Raymond Brock, played by Tony Donnelly, presented a polished performance for a character also hard to portray. In complete contrast to his wife, he was always predictable, never flouting the unwritten laws of society or diplomacy in the civil service and always 'nice'. Even his anger was a type of diplomatic anger. For this rather flat and uninteresting character, Tony Donnelly succeeded in projecting a strangely delightful person. Indeed it must have been difficult for any character in Plenty to compete with the colour and vibrancy of Susan Traherne.
Susan's friend Alice Park, played by Stephanie Dungate, was a convincing and admirable performance but was unfortunately overshadowed by the lead role.
This was one of those rare plays when nobody let the side down with weak acting and it enabled all to concentrate on presenting a difficult play to the audience. One character particularly attractive was Ambassador Leonard Darwin, played by Derek Goulding. It would have been easy to portray him in a straightforward manner but Derek had obviously put time and thought into' his role.
This play, which concentrated more on relations between characters and the changing Susan Traherne than on any plot, left a lot of scope for Steve Marshall and stage manager Keith Dungate. Others backstage were: assistant stage managers, Eve Sutch, Maureen Hardwen; sound, Bill Ayling; lighting, Alan Dawson, Alan Hunt; costume and properties, Chris Milkins, Jean Gordon, Caroline Hobin, Vera Robinson, Fay Rose and Jean -Midlane; design, Steve Marshall.
A C
Kentish Times | 12 February 1981
