CONFUSIONS

by Alan Ayckbourn

Players Youth Theatre

 

Directed by Barbara Harris and assisted by Rob McGregor

 

It was intriguing to see how a youth group would approach and deliver this series of one act plays written by Ayckbourn. In its entirety this would contain five one-act plays but Barbara and Rob chose four of them for the youth players to perform :- Mother Figure, Between Mouthfuls, Gosforth’s Fête and Talk in the Park. The fifth would have been Drinking Companion, but the director believed, and quite rightly, that that one had too much of an adult content to be included. The characters in these five plays are usually played by five actors, changing their characters from one play to another. It was to some degree the same here, with some players having multiple roles, but there were others included too.

 

Mother Figure

 

This was a three hander. A mother (Anamika Chow) is looking after a new baby. Tired and overworked she is not helped by a husband that we never see. Her routine is disturbed by the neighbours, Rosemary and Terry (Nemone Wolfendale and Harry Bailey) who have been sent round to check on her by the hitherto missing husband.

 

Anamika was super as the drudge of a housewife. Her short responses to questions were nicely timed and gave the impression that she would rather be alone, to get on with her motherly work of washing clothes and feeding the baby. There was a degree of empathy from members of the audience who “know that feeling” when she says she hasn’t got dressed in weeks. As the play gathers pace we are introduced to the neighbours. Nemone was great at expressing her concern and when Harry joins her they start bickering as petulant children do. This meant that Anamika could move her character on and she became the couples “Mother Figure”. She became confident and strong as she worked to resolve the conflict; chiding and gradually wearing down the character of Terry, so that there was reconciliation between him and Rosemary at the end of the play, between the husband and wife.

 

 

Between Mouthfuls

 

This play flits between the dialogue of two couples sitting at different tables in a restaurant, and linked by the waiter going between them. Here I must congratulate Toby Metcalf on being that waiter. He had great timing and presence of mind to be in the right place at the right time, and still remember his line delivery, timing and going to collect the food and drink to serve to each couple. These are stage skills with which more experienced can have problems.

 

Naomi Hunter and James Schelling played Mr and Mrs Price, the middle class couple, who are having marital problems. Both these players were confident enough to continue their “arguments” in silence, even when the lights were down on them, but never overacted that might have distracted the attention from what was happening at the other table. Naomi had good facial expressions adept at rolling her eyes. It was obvious that both Naomi and James had thought about their characters, and how to play and represent them.

 

Liam Stuckey and Izzy Ekgren were the other couple, Martin and Polly. Liam gave an impression of a man who is focused on his job and satisfying his boss at the expense of giving attention to his wife. Izzy created the character of the exasperated wife that has become bored with how things are, and who wants to be noticed.

 

Gosforth’s Fête

 

This play could be expanded to be a traditional farce, with multiple characters coming on and going off, and with the mayhem that comes from a public announcement, a tea urn, a faulty sound system, a drunk fiancé, a missing brass band and the unruly wolf cub scouts. This is a fast-paced piece of theatre which was held very credibly by Li Chow as the publican, Gosforth, who was in charge of organising the fête, though not very successfully.

 

Li gave a commanding and confident performance as Gosforth, with good strong, audible dialogue, and timing the punchlines exquisitely. The elements of him addressing the never seen wolf cub scouts through a megaphone was a hoot and had the audience in stitches.

 

There were nice changes of characters by those that had been in previous plays. James Schilling became the vicar. and showed a softer character from the one he played before as Mr Price. Anamika Chow was no longer the bored, tired mother but a confident, young woman who knows what she wants. Harry Bailey was delightful as the Cub Scout leader who, after some disturbing news becomes drunk. This was well played! Abby Walmsley joined in the fun as a straight faced councillor, and her electrifying performance at the microphone was superb.

 

Talk in The Park

 

What impressed me about this play was that ALL the players, Alex Priestly, Eliza Godfrey, Liam Stuckey, Mia Rezzano and Li Chow, stayed totally in character and very focused throughout this piece. Each taking a turn to deliver their character’s story. and the reason they were sitting in a park.

 

The staging throughout was simple and without fuss. A set of black drapes created the space, and props for all the plays were adequate. The lighting was good and everyone could be seen. The switching of spots in the second play added to the sense of heightened discussion between the couples, and helped the comedy for the waiter flitting between the two tables. As always, thought had gone into the individual characters and the costumes that would be most suitable for each.

 

I can fully appreciate the time, support and work that has been put into helping these players understand, develop and portray the characters that are in each play.

 

It is a testimony of the trust and confidence that the youth performers and parents have in Barbara Harris and Rob McGregor to tackle such a selection of plays with the adult themes, which collectively make Confusions. I have no doubt that the youth players enjoyed playing such challenging roles.

 

Thank you for such an enjoyable evening.