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in...Bexleyheath
|
| Cast | |
| Gordon | Jim Jeram |
| Bernard | David Hampton |
| Margaret | Amanda Whittle |
| Joyce | Stephanie Dungate |
| Crew | |
| Stage Manager | Roz Betts |
| Assistant Stage Manager | Brenda Winn |
| Lighting & Sound | Bernard Tilley |
Review
Teenager takes one act by storm
The fifth Inter-Theatre One Act Play Festival wound up last Sunday with a new, young director taking the event by storm. Teenager Ben Gaston drew praise from the event adjudicator and audiences for his production of the challenging drama Adult Child/Dead Child. Claire Dowie's shocking portrait of a young woman's life struggle with schizophrenia was entered by Erith Theatre Guild and provided the dramatic highlight of the six shows presented in the festival. As well as directing a taut and technically precise show. Ben also adapted the text to broaden what was originally a monologue into a seamless piece for two actors. Jo Dunham gave a committed and moving performance as the girl while Michael Bate illustrated a wide range of peripheral characters in her story with admirable finesse.
Hosted by Eynsford's Riverside Players, the non-competitive festival opened with the Bob Hope Theatre's production of Tennessee Williams' Suddenly Last Summer. Marshalling a large and able cast for this story of a young girl mentally scarred by the grisly murder of her boyfriend, the Eltham group presented an uneven production that occasionally flared with typical Williams' passion, only to become bogged down in uncertain stage business and characterisation. Valerie Jarvis dominated the scene as the dead man's over-possessive mother and Samantha Kirby handled the suffering of Catherine Holly with conviction. Director Angie Brignell needed more rehearsal time and a better thought-out set to come closer the heart of this extraordinary play.
In complete contrast the second half of the evening featured the Edward Alderton Theatre from Bexleyheath in the comedy Last Tango in...Bexleyheath, a story of a talentless am-dram group turning to sex and nudity in order to fill seats. Strong characterizations are needed if this play is to work and director Freda Phillips elicited some wonderful work from the cast of four. Amanda Whittle and David Hampton in particular enjoyed some well-timed repartée as the ample, vampish Margaret and the lecherous set builder, Bernard.
Edward Albee's The Zoo Story, in a revived production by the Geoffrey Whitworth Theatre, brought together Colin Hill and Peter Gray as an unhinged city dweller and an innocent stranger he encounters in a park. Both performers brought a strong sense of tension and credibility to the scene as the play moves on to its deadly climax. Toby Masson revealed himself as another young director working with admirable maturity of approach. The Riverside Players' contribution was another comedy [Easy Stages] looking at the pitfalls of amateur theatre, in this case the miseries endured by a stage manager Irving to mount a production of Hamlet. John Buckle gave an entertaining portrait of a man whose patience is stretched to the limit by the ineptitude of those around him, but in truth N J Warburton's play needed stronger direction and broader characterisation if it was to realise its comic potential.
Erith Theatre Guild's production appeared in a double-bill with Sorry, Wrong Number, a film noir-style melodrama by Lucille Fletcher, presented by Bromley Little Theatre. Lorraine Masters took the central rote of an isolated, disabled woman who overhears on a crossed line two men discussing a murder. As she tries in vain to alert the authorities to the danger, she deduces that she is to be the victim. On its first performance the play did not flow well and the sense of menace ebbed and flowed The telephone effects were well-realised and the monochrome set design helped evoke the period, cinematic feel.
Adjudicator Derrick Graham assessed each production as part of last Sunday's festival gala and handed out boxes of chocolates to Valerie Jarvis, Amanda Whittle, Colin Hill, Alan Cremer and BLT sound operator Julie Carroll in recognition of their contributions. Joyce Shephard, chairman of the Arts Council of Bexley, presented a bottle of wine to the technical team working on Adult Child/Dead Child, and Times arts editor Darryl McCarthy presented David Hampton and Amanda Whittle with a bottle of champagne for their comic interplay in Last Tango in...Bexleyheath. The festival culminated with a programme of entertainment from all the participating groups on the theme of youth.
Darryl McCarthy
Kentish Times | 4 November 1998
