Written and Directed by Marion Rogers
Medstead Players showed their talent for comedy in their Spring production, entitled "The Staggerings Fortune".
Marian Rogers not only wrote the play, an amusing tale of how the other half lives, but she also directed it.
The country residence of Sir Algernon Crombie Smythe is the gracious setting with John Gregory putting on the style in the part as a household of women display their preoccupation with romance.
There's his oh-so-shy spinster sister, Gloriana (Anita Prior) and his daughter Amanda, cleverly portrayed by Dianne Nicholls as a picture of innocence.
A weekend house party turns to mystery and intrigue as the secret of the family fortune unfolds.
Pam Kercher plays the aptly named cook, Mrs. Ample, while the cast includes two young newcomers, Claudia Foames as Madeleine, the ever-tearful housemaid, and Lee Foames as Timothy Huntington-Stag.
With a suitable trans-Atlantic drawl, Stan Whitcher takes the role of Boregarde Finkler III, and Jane Foames plays Emilou.
There's more clever characterisation by Val Prior as Prunella Pervis Puttock, Mike Overy as Hector Huntington-Stag and Ann Penn as Bains.
It was a memorable achievement for the Medstead Players to be able to present a truly home grown, two-act play, and Marion Rogers, who wrote it, made a great success of her first comedy.
It was very ambitious of her to attempt an Aldwych-type farce as her first offering, as this is generally regarded as the most difficult medium for an amateur company to perform. I feel that as author, director and general factotum she had undertaken too much and several weaknesses were apparent.
The first scene, in the Staggerings Fortune, in which the various characters were merely introduced, was much too tedious and Anita Prior and Claudia Foames, talking earnestly backstage were quite inaudible. I did not appreciate the scene in which Anita and Val Prior were seated in the middle of the stage engaged in a long, silent conversation while unrecognisable voices were clearly heard in the wings. The girls mimed their words cleverly, but it all added nothing to the plot.
Having made my complaints; John Gregory was excellent as the irascible head of the house, loudmouthed and domineering, and his timid sister, Anita, when she emerged from her chrysalis, was an attractive character, though her moment of passion with Mike Overy was as exciting as cold rice pudding.
Dianne Nicholls, the love-struck, simpering daughter, was great fun and her affair with the Ralph Lynn type, silly ass, played by Lee Foames, was splendid. Lee will be a great asset to the society.
Bains, the decrepit old English butler, was rather over-acted by Ann Penn, but the character raised plenty of laughter.
The tearful Claudia Foames, when she spoke up, was good as the lovelorn parlour maid, and Matthew Parratt was a very earthy gardener who, not unnaturally, fell for the buxom Mrs. Ample. This garrulous biddy, the household cook, was played with full below-stairs charm by Pam Kercher.
When the family party was interrupted by the stranded American tourists, Jane Foames was quite outstanding as the vivacious wife on honeymoon with Stan Whitcher, in an outrageous suit that only a multi-millionaire American could wear in public.
The only other character was Val Prior in a very small part, but it provided a wife for the ill-tempered Sir Algernon, so that the play ended happily.
The set was bright, but not very imaginative, and, with no changes of scenery being required, it should have been better furnished to represent the living room of an affluent family. The bare walls and painted door handles, were not up to the usual Medstead high standard.
But full marks for a first play and I look forward to the next one.
N.C.
Picture yourselves back in the 1950's in the era of the 'New Look' and calmness after stormy times.
The action takes place in a care-worn country house, the home of the domineering Sir Algernon Crombie-Smythe.
While Cupid goes to work, the quiet weekend is shattered by the arrival of the Finklers.
Cast:
|
Miss Glorianna Crombie-Smythe - Anita Prior
Miss Amanda Crombie-Smythe - Dianne Nicholls
Bains - Ann Penn
Gooseberry Sunday - Matthew Parratt
Timothy Huntington Stag - Lee Foames
Miss Prunella Pervis Puttock - Val Prior
Madeleine Sunday - Claudia Foames
Mrs. Ample - Pam Kercher
Hector Huntington Stag - Mike Overy
Boregarde Finkler II - Stan Whitcher
Emilou Finkler - Jane Foames