A Chorus of Disapproval

TOTAL APPROVAL: ANOTHER HIT FROM HADIT!

A Chorus of Disapproval by Alan Ayckbourn

Fans of playwright Alan Ayckbourn (and I am one) know that they can expect: stylish plotting; elements of farce including misunderstandings and confusions; sparkling dialogue and quirky characters. He shines his spotlight on the shenanigans of the middles classes: their fractured relationships, hypocrisies and self-delusions. Above all, he provides rich entertainment and -- to quote Our Cilla -- ‘a lorra, lorra laughs’. HADIT’s production of A Chorus of Disapproval did not disappoint. By the interval, I had laughed so much I ached.

The play focuses on the Pendon Light Operatic Society (PALOS). A rich seam of comedy is mined by the behaviour of the company at rehearsals. They fluff lines, walk off when they should be on and play politics with the casting. At times, more drama is going on off-stage than in their production. I counted at least four affairs and two fights! Paul Archer plays the exasperated director Dafydd ap Llewellyn. At one stage he says he wishes that his cast were professionals, as then he could sack them all.

I am sure that HADIT director Carolyn Garwes had no such thoughts. She needed a strong actor to play Dafydd to hold things together and Paul, bounding with manic energy, fulfilled that role brilliantly. I loved the idea that Dafydd’s last production, The Sound of Music, incorporated nuns on trampolines and, yes, limbs were broken. Hannah, his long-suffering, ‘all-purpose Swiss army’ wife is played with quiet desperation by Jenni Argent. Dafydd describes his wife as being like a freezer; but it only takes the arrival of shy newcomer to the company, Guy Jones, to thaw her out. Indeed the effect of Guy (played with nervous naivety by Tim Smallwood) has a similar effect on the females of the company to that of the actor playing Poldark on the female population of the UK. It is not long before he is invited round to the house of the Hubbards who, unbeknown to him, are ‘swingers’. Asked to bring a female partner, he invites a geriatric chum, much to Ian Hubbard’s horror. (Nice sleazy performance from Martin Chapman.) Meanwhile, fuelled on tequila slammers, Fay Hubbard tells Guy that she is prepared to do anything except something cruel. Misunderstanding, Guy says: ‘You mean like veal?’ Fay is played by Jo Elliott; the saucy seductress from Cider with Rosie turns voracious vamp twinkling knowingly and stating suggestively what ‘VEAL’ could stand for (Voracious Exuberant Acrobatic Lover). She sizzles so much on stage, she is almost a fire hazard. It is not long before she leads Guy by the tie to her boudoir like a calf to the slaughter. This was one of my favourite scenes. Another was where Dafydd is opening his heart to Guy about the coldness of his wife and Rebecca Huntley-Pike enters to tell him that the tannoy is switched on! (Good timing from Sheree Smallwood.)

Alan Ayckbourn successfully incorporates short scenes and songs from John Gay’s The Beggar’s Opera, which PALOS are performing. In both plays, the characters are ‘on the make’ in more ways than one. He neatly parallels aspects of the modern plot and themes: for example, there is a lot of bribery and corruption going on about a piece of land and then Rob Willing sings in fine tenor about the dishonesty of lawyers. Linda Washbrook (Jane Bramwell) and publican’s daughter Bridget Baines (a feisty performance from Fiona Johnston) squabble over the young man in the company, Crispin Usher, mirroring the rivalry of Polly Peachum and Lucy Lockit over Macheath in the 1728 musical.

Credit must be given to musical director David Garwes. HADIT is not a musical society and yet the quality of the singing was impressive. Jon Haddock (headhunted from Castleton, I believe) sang in a wonderful deep voice. There were beautiful duets between Jane Bramwell and Jenni Argent, and I enjoyed the song sung by Val Johnston, Nick Williams and Rob Willing.

I must also congratulate Christine Bell who with her marvellous costumes transformed desperate housewives into doxies and homely husbands into highwaymen. Make-up was (beauty) spot on!

During the course of rehearsals Guy graduates from the character of Crook-fingered Jack (one line only) to the star of the show, Macheath. A happy ending is imposed as Macheath avoids the noose. For the members of PALOS, things are not so clear-cut; their personal lives are in pieces.

This was an ambitious choice of play for HADIT, but they rose to the challenge. What next? I know, under Carolyn’s careful guidance, it won’t be nuns on trampolines!

Margaret Coupe

Review: HADIT theatre group shines in A Chorus of Disapproval

In A Chorus of Disapproval, which sends up the world of amateur dramatics, playwright Alan Ayckbourn indicates that people who love the theatre are pitied by others and fair game to receive sympathy cards.

Congratulations cards are more likely to be finding their way through the letterboxes of thespians who are presenting Aykbourn’s comedy in Hope this week.

Admiration sweeps from the audience to the actors who are tasked with presenting a play within a play by switching from mirth-laden comedy to light opera.

It’s a tall order but one which Hope Amateur Dramatic Independent Theatre (HADIT) measures up to as they serve up laugh after laugh and impress with some spot-on singing as they play performers who are preparing for a production of The Beggar’s Opera.

Every horror story that you can imagine in the world of amateur dramatics is contained in the storyline, from impassioned director who neglects his family and loses patience with his cast, tearful performers who bring domestic dramas to the rehearsal room, lusty married ladies who see a newcomer as fresh meat and love rivals scrapping at a practice session.

In one of the many gems contained in the script, the director announces that he wished his cast were professionals so he could sack the lot of them!

The fun even spreads to the technical side of the storyline with the lighting guy who messes up his sequences being on the sharp end of the boss’s frustration.

Paul Archer does a fabulous job as the workaholic Welsh director Daffyd who instills a love of amateur dramatics in everyone he meets but is ground down by the lack of talent and commitment by some of his company’s members.

It’s a show of two halves - literally - for this leading man whose role requires him to play the genial, encouraging company captain in one and a desperate director running up and down the aisle barking orders at an inept crew in the other.

Tim Smallwood is cast as newcomer Guy, a shy widower who has a meteoric rise from bit-part actor to leading man. He’s also a hit with the ladies and there’s a hilarious scene in which he’s invited to the home of a posh man-eater (a fabulous performance by Jo Elliott) for what he thinks is going to be just a few drinks and nibbles but he is in fact the main course for this sex-hungry siren! Guy ends up playing two ladies off each other after falling for the director’s neglected wife (played by Jenni Argent) and is embroiled in a corrupt land deal. End result? Come showtime, no-one is speaking to him!

Factor in a heartbreaker who really can sing opera - a standout performance by Jon Haddock - and two women scrapping for his attention (convincingly played by Fiona Johnson and Jane Bramwell) and this is one show you won’t want to miss.

With a production as good as this, expect a flock of people to be clamouring to join the ranks of HADIT any time soon.

A Chorus of Disapproval, directed by Carolyn Garwes with musical direction by David Garwes, continues it run at Hope Methodist Hall until Saturday, May 2. It’s a sell out this evening (Friday) but there’s still tickets available for tomorrow night’s show, which starts at 7.30pm.

Gay Bolton (Derbyshire Times)