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| Cast | |
| Graham Carey | Tony Donnelly |
| Ernest Rowley | Steve Marshall |
| Pamela Rowley | Kath Bateman |
| Sheila Chilton | Sue Higginson |
| Mrs Mitten | Maureen Hardwen |
| Kate Cockburn | Allison Henderson |
| Crew | |
| Stage Manager | Jean Sharp |
| Assistant Stage Manager | Pauline Clifton |
| Set Construction | Phil Newton, Dennis Kingshott |
| Properties | Julie Lovelock, Linda Newton |
| Lighting | Dennis Kingshott |
| Sound | Tim Hewitt |
Thanks to Phil Newton and Dennis Kingshott for construction of the set and to members of EAT for thir invaluable assistance decorating. Furniture hired from Erith Playhouse.
Review
Rare quality - you should see it now
Claire Kingshott first saw Peter Tinniswood's play You Should See Us Now when it was premiered at the Greenwich Theatre in the late 1970s. The impact was such she acquired the script and awaited an opportunity to present her own version of the play. Her long wait is now over. Until the end of this week the Edward Alderton Theatre at Bexleyheath is hosting her production of what is loosely called a comedy, performed by one of the best casts seen at the theatre.
Tinniswood poses many problems for director and performers alike. The actors are asked to talk to and play with a family pet and a variety of children whose presence is left entirely to the imagination. They then revert from their adult roles to play not only their own children but themselves when young. This complex scenario builds an absorbing picture of immature essays at sex and relationships which create the foundations of childhood. The development of personalities, which sometimes are very different from the juvenile originals, are then subjected to analysis by the new generation of children.
Graham (Tony Donnelly) is divorced by his wife (Sue Higginson) after a string of affairs and is left with nothing but despair when his lover (Allison Henderson) walks out on him. Ernest (Steve Marshall) remains insecure and juvenile in attitude and is utterly dominated by his once diffident wife (Kath Bateman) in a marriage which has remained childless for a very odd reason. And taking every opportunity to spike the tenuous relationship between Graham and his ex-wife is the wife's mother, played by Maureen Hardwen.
I have rarely seen such consummate acting, such beautifully developed characterizations and ability to switch from one age group to another, carried out with such conviction. Despite moments of comedy, this is a sophisticated play with a serious message. It will leave some baffled and others searching their own past for parallels. Claire Kingshott has created a production of great substance but its general appeal is likely to be mixed and difficult to predict.
Roy Atterbury
Kentish Times | 14 July 1994
