Written by Philip King
Directed by Estelle Wescome
"Serious Charge" by Philip King, presented by the Medstead Players was, indeed, a serious, earthy play that could easily have been ruined by overdramatisation. Under Estelle Wescombe's gifted direction, it kept a knife-edge balance and remained tense and vital throughout. The flaw, if any, lay with the audience, some of whom failed to appreciate the significance of the situation at the curtain drop of the first act.
Ann Penn took the female lead and developed the character of Hester from the naive, sex-starved spinster in the first act, to the emancipated man hunter in the second, and back to the pathetic conscience stricken old maid in the final stages of the play. Ann carried off this difficult role with confidence and the fine sense of timing that she always employs.
In her first major part, Joyce Shikell made a great success of her portrayal of the vicar's n mother. Her dry wit and laconic manner acted as a '' splendid foil to the young clergyman. I was sorry when the action of the play took her off the stage.
Jane Harding and David Fleck are well known to Ropley audiences and they made a welcome appearance in this play. David had a difficult part to play as the innocent victim of a campaign of hate. The conflict between his feelings of resentment of his accusers and the loyalty to his cloth was the key to the whole play, and he turned it well.
The outstanding male part, however, was played by Nick Cooper as the sleazy villain of the piece, Larry Thompson. His ill mannered self assurance, and his good looks, concealed an easy charm, which attracted him to many but created a menacing atmosphere of tension when caught in the net of his own misdeeds.
Beverly Penn had a brief, highly emotional role which must have been difficult for a youngster to play in her first stage appearance.
Graham Pettitt was a competent down to earth schoolmaster, rather proud of his importance at being chosen to convey the villagers judgement to the vicar. He managed to present the right impression of embarrassment and indignation.
Max Chitty and John Hurst completed a most competent cast, as two dishevelled labourers with no speaking parts.
This was undoubtedly the best performance by the Medstead Players, directed so skilfully by Estelle Wescombe and produced by Stan Whitcher.
The fine setting for the scene in the vicarage was completely changed for act three and rightly earned the applause of a most appreciative audience.
This play, following rapidly on the fine productions at Ropley and Four Marks demonstrates the very high standard that has been reached by village dramatic societies. [N.H.C.]
Philip King's play "Serious Charge" was the Medstead Players' offering for their Spring production, held in the parish hall on Friday and Saturday. A prolific playwright, perhaps better known for comedies like "See How They Run", King has created in this play a tense drama.
Set in a small village, it illustrates how narrow-minded a closed community can become when confronted with a malicious slander about a newcomer. The stranger to the village is the new vicar, a bachelor, who sets up home in the vicarage with the help of his mother.
In attempting to ease his way into village life, he very soon crosses swords with, a vicious young tough, who, in order to prevent the truth being told about his part in the death of a local girl, invents a story that the vicar has attempted to interfere with him - the "serious charge" of the title.
The play is well constructed and contains several excellent character parts. In this production the necessary tension was diminished due to the entire plot being contained in the programme - even to the detail that "However all ends well".
In the central role of the vicar who is wronged by his parishioners, David Fleck gave a solid and reliable performance but his rather superficial interpretation did not inject the character with any of the flavour of an ingenious young parson in his first "living". Joyce Shikell, as his mother, gave a fine character portrayal that made the most of some of the wittiest dialogue in the play.
Essentially a drama, the production was at its best in the extremely taut scene in Act 3 between the young miscreant, Larry Thompson, and the local spinster, Hester Byfield, who is unwittingly drawn into the youth's snare of lies. As Larry, Nick Cooper gave the outstanding performance of the play. His obvious enjoyment of the role lent credence to the character, even if he was perhaps slightly over-exuberant in the more physical passages. Ann Penn, as Hester, gave a performance which improved as the play progressed. In the earlier scenes, where Hester attempts to flirt with the vicar, she was clearly ill at ease. The fault here probably lay with the direction, which too often left her immobile when movement was required. However, Ann's acting was superb as the terrified spinster alone in her cottage with the menacing Larry.
Jane Harding gave a competent performance as the maid and the cast was completed by Graham Pettitt as the leader of the community that ranges itself against the person and Beverley Penn, as the young, tragic Mary Williams. Max Chitty and John Hurst also appeared briefly as two of the villagers. The action of the play demanded a complete change of scene, which, was done extremely well - albeit rather slowly - in the cramped conditions. Both sets were well-designed, though one sympathised with the actors having to negotiate some overly steep and incongruous steps in the main entrance.
The play under the direction of Estelle Wescombe and produced by Stan Whitcher provided a very good evening's dramatic entertainment.
One of the Village lads, Larry Thompson, who has been found out in petty crimes and reprimanded by the new Vicar of
the Parish bears such a grudge against him that he does his utmost to destroy the Vicar's character and reputation in
the Village. His innocent accomplice is a lonely, unmarried lady who has been involved in the Village life for a great
many years. This lady, Hester Byfield, has endeavoured to become the personal friend of the Vicar and his mother and her
naivety prevents her from assessing the truth of the situation. As time goes by she begins to realise on closer
acquaintance with Larry, that she may have been tricked into a false belief and her horror at his final confession ends
in a violent scene between herself and the lad. However all ends well and the Vicar is exonerated though the experience
leaves him embittered and uncertain of his ability to continue with his ministry.
Characters:
Mrs Phillips - Joyce Shikell
Hester Byfield - Ann Penn
Eva Browning, the maid - Jane Harding
Howard Phillips - David Fleck
Larry Thompson - Nick Cooper
Mary Williams - Beverley Penn
Mr. Granger - Graham Pettitt
Johnson - Max Chitty
Roberts - John Hurst
