November 16, 2006
The Abingdon Drama Club truly excels itself in this superb interpretation of Tennessee Williams’ classic of 1930s America. This tale of dysfunctional family life and the pressures on an only son to look after his mother and sister in the absence of his father is thoroughly believable. Despite some wobbly Southern accents and a few lighting problems, the first-night performance was highly professional and completely enthralling. Liz Adams is particularly well cast as the painfully shy sister who drops out of business college because it makes her physically sick and whose only real hope for any kind of life is to find a husband. Tom, her brother, the frustrated poet doomed to work in a warehouse to support his womenfolk, is played with sensitivity and feeling by Michael Ward and his mother, the inimitable Amanda, played by Colette Lardner-Browne provides relief by supplying much of the play’s humour. The ‘gentleman caller’ (Philip Bower) is wonderfully naïve and gentle and all looks set fair right up until the final dénouement.
For an excellent evening’s entertainment in the stunning setting of the Unicorn Theatre’s 14th century Abbey Buildings, with attentive, friendly staff and generous refreshments (including free biscuits!), this play comes highly recommended.
For an excellent evening’s entertainment in the stunning setting of the Unicorn Theatre’s 14th century Abbey Buildings, with attentive, friendly staff and generous refreshments (including free biscuits!), this play comes highly recommended.