July 20, 2011
Tim Firth's play is one I have been meaning to catch for a few years. A friend of mine has always spoken so highly of it so when I saw that the Old Gaol were putting it on I jumped at the chance to see it. And it was worth the wait - the play is very funny, a witty combination of funny one liners and great observational dialogue.
OGTC have created an effective set that sits well in the Unicorn and they make good use of the theatre's space, the gallery acting as an appropriate setting for the look out tree and the exit stage right becoming some cavern-like space.
The four man cast all turn in very solid performances, they play a mixed bag of middle managment, some dyed-in-the-wool, others young high-flyers. At first they all (with the exception of Gordon) rally to be positive about their situation (which is definitely not a crisis) and make the best of it, but it doesn't take long until hunger, a dislike of french cricket and ghosts of the past come to take their toll. This is when the play gets a little darker and the cast are to be commended for coping with the turn of mood well.
Geoff Munday plays likeable everyman Neville with an assured touch and David Fardon makes a great Roy: he is a sympathetic character who you route for, just as the text dictates. Vern Dunkley gets past a few line slip-ups to put in an effective performance of school yard bully Gordon, whose negativity slowly eats away at the men, most notably Angus, brilliantly played with subtlety and verve by the excellent Andy Pearl.
The play has been well directed (Julie Kemp-Harper) from a dialogue point of view, and the use of space is excellent. I do wonder a little about the choices of mood music, which comes and goes and seems somewhat disjointed and I also felt there were more black-outs and scene changes than neccesary, but all in all this is a very good production, and for £7 it is an outstanding evening's entertainment.
OGTC have created an effective set that sits well in the Unicorn and they make good use of the theatre's space, the gallery acting as an appropriate setting for the look out tree and the exit stage right becoming some cavern-like space.
The four man cast all turn in very solid performances, they play a mixed bag of middle managment, some dyed-in-the-wool, others young high-flyers. At first they all (with the exception of Gordon) rally to be positive about their situation (which is definitely not a crisis) and make the best of it, but it doesn't take long until hunger, a dislike of french cricket and ghosts of the past come to take their toll. This is when the play gets a little darker and the cast are to be commended for coping with the turn of mood well.
Geoff Munday plays likeable everyman Neville with an assured touch and David Fardon makes a great Roy: he is a sympathetic character who you route for, just as the text dictates. Vern Dunkley gets past a few line slip-ups to put in an effective performance of school yard bully Gordon, whose negativity slowly eats away at the men, most notably Angus, brilliantly played with subtlety and verve by the excellent Andy Pearl.
The play has been well directed (Julie Kemp-Harper) from a dialogue point of view, and the use of space is excellent. I do wonder a little about the choices of mood music, which comes and goes and seems somewhat disjointed and I also felt there were more black-outs and scene changes than neccesary, but all in all this is a very good production, and for £7 it is an outstanding evening's entertainment.