home | accolade | articles | acting | festivals | guestbook | groups | greenroom | links | news | plays 1 productions | photos | quotes | reviews |
 |
 |
Victoria Park Amateur Drama Group Church Hall Edgehill Road Bournemouth February 2006 It was set during autumn 1946 in a country house, where rich businessman James Ondersley (Bryan Oakley) has invited a diverse group of people for the weekend in order to discover which of them has been trying to kill him with poisoned candied peel. Props, set and costumes were absolutely right for the period and the style of house, and gave an authentic feel to the production. Most of the characters too seemed to fit quite naturally into their surroundings, in particular Lucy French (Angela Heathman), Grace Lenner (Christine Coram) and Dr Wadd (Ken Francis). And some lovely touches of eccentricity were provided by others, notably Miss Pethington (Jeanne Sheppard), Oswald Monk (Sean Watts) and Mrs Corntonhart (Mary Harrison). But the number of prompts needed by two of the major characters detracted enormously from the smooth running of the production, and it was also some time before the intended humour became apparent. In fact, I was never quite sure if some of the things that actually looked rather bizarre – one wig especially – were meant to be funny or not. Perhaps if I, like the characters on stage, had had a sherry or two… Linda Kirkman Courtesy of the Bournemouth Daily Echo 
|