Produced and performed by: Gwen & Dominic Clifford, Janice Hopwood, Lesley & David Rae.
Thank you to Medstead Players who provided an evening reminiscent of a genteel yesteryear. Not that I would remember of course!
A clever balance of music, song, poetry and drama, combined with a cosy set, rendered an atmosphere of light-hearted entertainment and laughter. The content was well chosen and constructed.
The impeccably dressed performers entered as if retiring after a happy dinner party, to a sitting room, where the audience had joined them. As they sipped their after dinner drinks, we were entertained with short quips, extracts from plays, sonnets and song. A story was told, moving cleverly from first tentative meetings to engagements, marriages, christenings and finally to getting older and even to passing on.
The black ring binders were quite a barrier for the audience and I think would have been less intrusive had they been smaller and perhaps covered in fabric or paper to make them look less like ring binders. The keyboard was a further barrier and some thought could go into better positioning. Gwen it would have been nice to see your lovely outfit. I did feel that there could have been a little more energy from the actors and a little less energy from piano and guitar.
The great shame of the whole evening was the sparse audience and those who stayed away missed a very pleasant evening. I look forward to you doing it again sometime.
[Anita Simpson]
