I figure that since this is just called "adventures in amateur dramatics", it matters not if I review other ammy drammy things I see??
Last night was the first night of
Habeas Corpus,
Ottershaw Players' summer offering at the Rhoda McGaw. It's directed by
Peter Moore , and stars many of the old favourites, and a few newbies. "Habeas..." is by Alan Bennett (him of Talking Heads fame, or as I remember him, reading Winnie the Pooh when I was younger!) and is billed as being a "hilarious farce", on the Ottershaw posters.
The set was predictably amazing. Alan Wakefield and his team had done it again, and had somehow brought Brighton (or Hove, perhaps) pier to life on the stage. Every set I see at Ottershaw amazes me, and this one was just as good as the others. Lights and sounds were good to, tho I have to admit I don't really pay much attention to them (which I suppose is how its supposed to be: a friend once said you're not supposed to be aware of the lights or sound, if they're done well).
I've read the script a couple of times, in preparation for my disastrous audition, and just to understand what was going on. Needless to say, I laughed where I was supposed to, and then in some other places too! The facial expressions and movements of the characters were spot on, especially Sir Percy Shorter's twitch, and Mrs Wicksteeds general stature - Alison (Byers) had the movements down completely.
It would take me too long to list everything I enjoyed about this show. I loved the little touches (the delphiniums being thrown on!) and the costumes were fantastic too (where did Paul get that purple suit?!). Absolutely fab, and it deserves to do really well at the box office and in review! If you're in the area, go and see it before it finishes on Saturday!!! :-)
