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by W Somerset Maugham 18 - 27 March 2010
This is set in wealthy England in the 1920s when everyone spoke beautifully, dressed immaculately and behaved impeccably. Even MPs were regarded as honourable people. This production will be a showcase for the Miller Centre Players. It will be seen by some 90 delegates from all over the country, gathering at the Miller Centre for the AGM of the Little Theatre Guild. The occasion is an important one and the play is a delight. Cast
Croydon Advertiser ReviewApril 1 2010 Opulence and sumptuousness in an arena setting, designed by Jenny Kingman, brought justified applause and set the tone for some fine acting, really beautiful costumes from the 1920s and a tale of love that repeats itself within a wealthy family where the men become MPs and receive cabinet posts and the women seek release from being the dutiful wife. Fighting for the affections of Elizabeth are Arnold (her husband) and Teddie her would-be lover. As the protagonists, their ages were a little unbalanced but, as Arnold, Nigel Kemp's believable obsession with everything in the house being of beauty and kept in exactly its regular place ensured the alienation of a wife who could, in his book, have come under the same heading, while Simon Long's Teddie was young enough to understand his zest for life. Breaking on this scene of bubbling disquiet comes Lady Kitty, Arnold's mother, who ran off with Lord Porteous when her son was just five. Mary-Rose Goodliffe captured both the frivolity and the masked vulnerability of Kitty as she reflects on a life spent purely for pleasure, still living with the man she never married with Reg Anderson using every opportunity to turn Porteous comic and draw sympathy but whom, we find, truly still loves his lady. Graham Jones is delightful as her jilted husband Clive who seems to have led a merry life in spite of being left to bring up their boy on his own. His delivery had a Richard Briers feel to it as he recounts his particular affection for and continuing success with, young ladies aged around 25. At the centre of the tale is Elizabeth made charming and thoughtful by Rebecca Perfect. Her dilemma seemed resolved as, on told she is leaving him, Arnold goes out of his way to smooth her path and even give her an allowance – but will she be persuaded by this decency or fly to an unconventional life, but one where she truly loves? In cameo roles, Carolyn Burton is friend Mrs Shenstone and Tony Richardson and Jonathan Land butler and footman respectively. The feel for such a period piece is stamped firmly on the production by director Peter Whittle who leads a talented team, both on stage and backstage, all of whom gave an evening of pure, old-fashioned entertainment.
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