Noda Review – October 2017
This was a clever compilation show with members offering items for performance to director Lizzie Lindsell, who then wrote a play, creating characters and dialogue, which linked everything together. It had been set vey simply with the stage divided into two areas; one was the `Stage` for the Talent show with glitter curtains, and the other the dressing room/wings area stage right. The `on stage’ area had a table and chairs for the Judges and a screen over their heads as one judge, Connor Kyd, was judging from `the other side of the world’ via a video link and the large advertising board for King Cole’s Hardware, as proprietor Rex “King” Cole has sponsored the event.
It had many of the characters we expect to find in a small village, all with appropriate names; the lady who is on every committee and `runs’ the village (Mrs Hunter), the one who is at loggerheads with her (Mrs Lesser), a local business man (Rex `King’ Cole), a local farmer with unruly goats (Alf Barnes), the local librarian with a love of cats (Agnes Reid), the village policeman (PC Delore), the district nurse (Kerry Carey), a bell ringer and a host of other villagers.
The lighting had been designed to give good effects to the `on stage’ and ‘in the wings’ areas with much brighter lighting ‘on stage’. The sound effects were well cued and the ‘video link’ worked well, with intermittent breaks in reception. Costumes and makeup all suited the various characters with the many outfits for Mrs Hunter and the lovely medieval costumes and many hats for Mrs Lessing and Mr Hunter’s saucy duet.
Author Lizzie Lindsell had created some lovely characters and everyone embraced them, performing their items totally in character. We had an interesting variety of `acts’, solo songs, duets, song and dance numbers, a magician, a ventriloquist, some very bad jokes and a well performed musical duo. Obviously as it was a Talent show you had rivalry between the acts, with occasional scuffle breaking out and contestants trying to influence the judges. Everyone reacted well, it must have been quite taxing for the `Judges’ sitting on stage most of the time having to keep their concentration and react appropriately to each item, including boredom, as was particularly well shown by Connor Kyd falling asleep on screen. Judge, Agnes Wilson, the cat-loving Librarian, slowly became beautifully inebriated after her water had been spiked with vodka. I liked the reactions when various spouses watched their other halves performing. Ventriloquist, Martha Morgan, did a sterling job continuing to perform when farmer, Alf Barnes, caused a very loud disturbance trying to bring his goat into the building.
This was a well conceived and written piece of Theatre, it had created a larger than life set of characters and put them into an amusing situation, because it was a `Talent Show’ the audience were not necessarily expecting `Concert’ standard performances throughout. The evening was brought to an unexpected conclusion after the results had been announced with Mrs Hunter and Mrs Lesser being `catty’ and giving a delightful rendition of The Cat Duet.
Due to other commitments I attended the dress rehearsal, which went very well and I enjoyed. I am sure with audience response the production would move up another level. Well done everyone.
Director and Author: Lizzie Lindsell Pianist: Margaret Costello.