Reviews
"A tightly-directed triumph" by Roy Atterbury
Two one-act plays were aired by the Riverside Players at the Eynsford Village Hall which, it is worth pointing out, is a large hall with raked seating, a battery of lighting equipment, a refreshment area, and an unexpectedly large stage, writes Roy Atterbury. The company is one of the most ambitious theatre groups in the north Kent area and has been featured on Channel 4 television. These latest productions were designed to provide experience for two fledgling directors, with Graham Steel directing Lucille Fletcher's suspense drama "Sorry, Wrong Number" and Susie Fenlon tackling Pam Valentine's "You Can't Fight City Hall, Bren", which is a family comedy. The Fletcher work was given a nicely conceived broodin g atmosphere and Lynda Newton brought plenty of desperation and near hysteria to her role of a woman who hears a murder being planned when she dials a number and gets a crossed-line. Other parts such as those of police officers and telephone operators were played out on the dimly-lit perimeter of the main action and the ploy worked well. But the play itself was a poor choice - its structure was incredibly weak and it even managed to give away the likely climax to the plot within five minutes of the curtain rising. It really offered little more than a taste of confused melodrama.
The second play, however, was like a breath of fresh air. Very well written, four great characters, and superb acting by Julie Lovelock (a despairing wife), lan Slipper (her disintegrating husband), Stephanie Coston-Holland (their capricious daughter), and Cathie Parker (the husband's irritating and interfering mother) created an ensemble that highlighted the art of perfect timing and made every word of the delightfully funny dialogue work like a dream. And an audio-only version of conversations in the family car was an exceptional tribute to the actors, director, and sound technicians. A tightly directed triumph.
"New Directors hit the target" by John Harris
For two plays that are so different, it was a real achievement on the part of both Directors to create such an excellent evening's entertainment. Graham Steel chose the thriller "Sorry, Wrong Number" which has actually graced the Riverside stage once before, when Bromley Little Theatre offered it during a One-Act Play Festival with our own (now!) Lorraine Slipper née Lloyd in the lead role. A very clever set and excellent acting from Lynda (in the lead), amusing cameos from Lorraine (she can't leave this alone!) and Fiona Gordon, Chris White and a very suspicious villain (Alan Cremer as an unlikely assassin) completed what I thought was a very crisp and enjoyable production, even if not quite hitting the highs of suspense. Susie Fenlon chose a "slice of life" in "Bren" and, having played the lead in a not dissimilar play (Albert's Plot )some years ago, it was a great pleasure to see others giving such excellent characterisations in this play. I don't think it is easy to play such characters without slipping into clichés but Ian Slipper, Cathie Parker, Julie Lovelock and Stephanie Coston-Holland managed to pull this off with aplomb. The voice-over of the family car journey was inspired and worked really well—how many of us have endured these at some point with our teenagers! ! Overall, another very successful evening of One-Act plays, which I am pleased to say goes to show that Riverside continues to be able to flex its muscles in more serious drama as well as our most popular musicals and extravanganzas.