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Wow, amateur theatre is not dead in the West End, but no, wait, I have seen lots of amateur theatre and very little of it has been this bad. Sorry. I recently saw and loved Broken Glass, subtle, poignant, moving, intimate and a delight ... but Iqbal Khan has not managed to achieve the same deftness of touch with this lovely play and has consequently ruined it. Does that sound harsh? Let me reconsider a moment ........ nope, I was right first time.
Unlike many reviewers I actually paid to see thyis production, as I do a lot of productions, and I did so with great enthusiasm as I happen to love Frank Marcus' play, in fact I directed it myself around a year ago. At the time it was a groundbreaking, iconic piece of theatre, made later into a marvelous film, but even today it speaks volumes to a sympathetic audience. I would see it as a black comedy, even the arts called it "witty and poignant", so why was it directed like the worst of amdram farce? Believe me, I know my Amdram, no adjudicator would have given this an easy ride and no reviewer should either - the play, the cast and most of all the audience deserved a whole lot better. The finger, I fear, must point mostly at the Director who singularly failed to take the play seriously .. and all really good comedy must be taken serioiusly if it is to work.
On entering the theatre I was impressed by the set, a tribute to the old valve radios and suitably quirky, it kind of failed later as curtains had to be mimed (in front of furniture!), doors to bedrooms were either imagined or not there depending on mood and lights came on with 3 second phases. Shame really. By the way, when the hatch doors open you'd expect there to be a light in the kitchen ... but I digress.
I almost don't know where to start ... the cast are all competent, clever, accomplished people but they seemed to be given nothing to work with. The play should be played completely straight and real, the comedy in the lines will come through of its own accord and the menace and evil can then contrast properly. Any criticism of the performances here is more properly placed at the Director's door than the actors' ...
Meera Syal's June Buckridge was about as faux-dyke as you can get, the stance was faked, the voice moved from sadness to anger to quietness without any conviction, each line was delivered as directed but without any reference to context and without any emotional journey between them ... the audience should not laugh at the final "moo" sequence, but they did, those who had stayed after the interval at least.
Elizabeth Cadwallader's Childie, such a beautifully written character, was played mosty for laughs, about as far from credible as you can get. To me, Childie is the most manipiulative, most self centred and possibly the most evil character in this story of disfunctional people. She is not "bubbles" and she is not a dumb blonde - directing her as dim, simpering victim is to wholly miss the point.
Helen Lederer's Xenia, the hardest part to play truthfully, was just so over the top as to be laughable, and I don;t mean that in a good way. Again, lack of truth in the character and lack of strong direction led to a somewhat hackneyed "gypsy" depiction.
Belinda Lang's Mrs Mercy was the closest to a real character, despite the wig, and therefore the most enjoyable to watch. Actually, I think she has all the best lines in the play but they have to be almosty thrown away, dropped like pebbles into the conversation so that they are almost missed, she is not a comedic character, she simple has some brilliantly comedic lines.
This beautiful play, with some trully fine female parts, deserves serious and subtle interpretation - given that it allows the audience (and its cast) to enjoy its rich humour, poignant tales and dark secrets. Served up as a poor imitation Whitehall farce I'm afraid it is a bit of an embarrassment.
