Day of Reckoning Photo Album Autumn Play
31st October 2006
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A glorious fete awaits |
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Day of Reckoning |
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CONGRATULATIONS
to RMDS for putting on such a first-class production, and black marks to all
those who stayed away; they will never know what a glorious treat they missed. Pam
Valentine's strongly written tragi-comedy centres around an eight-strong village
fete committee, a disparate group seemingly united only in the sadness of their
lives. Peter
Ansell directed with a sure hand that brought out both comedy and pathos in
equal measure. I found myself laughing loudly in some places and almost in tears
in others - and his cast did him proud. Every
performance stood out, was well characterised and completely believable. Gems, every one. |
| Linda Kirkman |
3rd November 2006 Day of
Reckoning THIS play was an excellent choice for shrewd
director Peter Ansell, capitalising on the talents of his strong cast. Each
actor deserves praise, particularly for the way they interacted with each other
with excellent timing. It is testament to the astute, witty script and the
empowered electric acting capturing each moment with an obvious grasp of the
characterisations, that it mattered not a bit that the entire play was set in
just one room: a typical English country village hall. The committee meets to discuss arrangements for
the summer fete and if anyone has ever sat on a committee before, personality
traits and difficult situations became all too familiar as the personalities
are developed in front of us. From Marjorie, the forthright lesbian (Sheryle
Daniels), whose language is always peppered with horsey imagery, to shy,
innocent infant teacher Angela (Freya Daniels) and Ethel (Sue Howshall), the
gossiping country wife in charge of catering, all the characters were
believable and recognisable, a credit to the skill and dedication of the cast. Vicar Geoffrey (Richard Bennett) suffers a
crisis of faith and life direction and, in his vulnerability, is seduced and
used by Army wife socialite Sally (Chris Grant). Like the situation between the
love triangle of Sally, Geoffrey and his supportive wife, Pauline (Poppy
Garvey), the storyline for downtrodden, wronged, yet devoted daughter Gloria,
who assists in the death of her oppressive, dying mother, leads us into the
realms of moral dilemmas. Whatever people’s opinions on the subject, the lines,
and their clever delivery by the delightful Val Garner, brought a lump to the
throat during one of the more sensitive scenes in this otherwise hilarious comedy.
Every
performance stood out, was well characterised and completely believable.This was an example of Pam Valentine's writing
skill taking the audience swinging smoothly between laughter and pathos,
surprise and reconciliation. Sharp one-liners by the seen-it-all-before,
never-fazed Mavis (Rosemary Guy) always brought everyone back to reality and
sense with a riotous jolt. It is a joy to be able to say at the end of a play that
you were hanging on to every word, and it was certainly the case with this
production.
Ringwood Musical & Dramatic Society
Sally Meineck