The evening was split into three short plays with intervals between each one. The first, Hands Across The Sea, is an comic piece which gives a brief insight into the lives of the upper crust and the society wheel they tread day in day out. The characters themselves are ridiculous caricatures; snobby and loud, and this is highlighted when some unexpected visitors arrive.

The second, Red Peppers, is a take on the old-fashioned music-hall comedy of Coward’s youth and tells the story of a failing act ‘The Red Peppers’.

The final piece, Still Life, was later given lasting significance when it was made into the classic film Brief Encounter. Set in a train station café the play depicts the illicit affair that begins between Doctor Alec and housewife Laura after a chance meeting on a railway platform. The characters of the lovers are offset against the working class figures of the formidable Mrs Bagot the teashop owner, her giggly assistant Beryl and Mrs Bagot’s suitor, the stationmaster Albert Godby. The everyday lives of the working class serves to show Alec and Laura’s love as something rare, as something superior.

Entering the intimate surroundings of the Bristol Old Vic Studio the audience was faced with an extremely impressive set depicting a 1920’s sitting room. Attention to detail was astounding with everything down to the last cocktail glass arranged to perfection.

The play was performed extremely well due to a strong cast and effective comic timing. From the outset the characters were brought to life, full of energy, and the audience was easily transported into their world of glamour, cocktails, phone calls and endless parties. Notable performances came from Lydia Leonard as the ditzy hostess Lady Maureen Gilpin and David McCusker as the mousey visitor Mr Wadhurst. As already mentioned the set was fantastically constructed and especially effective was the use of the ‘art deco’ elevator at the back of the stage which brought people to and fro.

After a short interval I returned to my seat to find to my great surprise that the entire set had changed! It now depicted the dressing room of ‘The Red Peppers’ in a Music Hall in a provincial town. Again the set was flawless and the effective use of a painted drop created the stage for the performers. This piece was not quite as effective as the last, lacking the comedy and the character depth. This fault however may lie with Coward’s script itself. Although fairly well performed there was not the same audience response as there had been to Hands Across The Sea. Having said this, the role of George Pepper was well performed by Matthew Mustafic highlighting the vast contrast between his onstage smiling persona and the offstage reality of his character; angry and dissatisfied. Another notable point was the clever use of sound as the performers came off stage and entered the dressing room. The sound was cleverly timed so that as the door of the dressing room opened the onstage noise could be heard but when shut the sound was blocked.

After a second interval the last play began with yet another entirely new set, that of a train station teashop. In my opinion this play was the most entertaining of the evening creating a moving story of an impossible love affair. Carla Lang and Nicholas Atkinson played the parts of the lovers with real feeling and sincerity drawing the audience into their plight making them really care about the outcome of this desperate situation. The other characters were also extremely well cast and performed, succeeding in showing the vast difference between the lives of the working classes and that of the seemingly respectable Doctor and his lover.

However, for me, the star of the evening had to be Samantha Parry who played the part of the fearsome Mrs Bagot to perfection. A fault of the two previous plays was the difficulties involved in playing a character whose age greatly differs from your own. In the first two plays there was a certain lack of maturity, which could well be blamed on the youth of the actors. In Still Life however this problem did not occur and all parts were played extremely convincingly, regardless of age. Also effective was the use of lighting throughout, illuminating the back windows of the set as a train went past.

Overall this was an enjoyable evening if not perhaps a little too long. Performances were in general of a high standard, sound and lighting were effectively used and the various sets were quite frankly amazing. A must see for Coward fans everywhere.

 The Tick List

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Costume


Lighting 

Cast
 

Story


Overall 

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