March Update

FORTHCOMING:

13 APRIL (Thurs matinee) Playhouse School for Scandal price £7.50

21 APRIL (Fri 7.45) The Point Flanders and Swann Evening price £12.50

23 May (Tues 7.30) Chichester Entertaining Angels: Penelope Keith price £15.00

We have already had 4 theatre visits this year for which there have been mixed reactions.

MACK and MABEL The Mayflower

Christine kindly arranged this and secured a block booking at an excellent price. She also arranged our transport by hiring 2 of the community buses which did make a great difference being delivered to and collected from the doorstep. Sadly the production did not live up to expectations. The supporting cast were very industrious providing all the music and dance routines. However the "e1ectricity" between Mack and Mabel, so essential to the story, just did not exist. I imagined that if David Soul met his co-star in a bar afterwards he would say "Who are you?" so little did he communicate or acknowledge her! This meant that Janie Dee had to work extraordinarily hard (which she did admirably) to generate the exciting energy that is so essential for this musical.

JANE EYRE The NUFFIELD

But what an unexpected treat was this! I had not expected that the Brontes' work could be transferred to the stage but I found for the first time that the play actually gave me a better understanding of the book. It was good to hear the dialogue being delivered in a strong blunt Yorkshire accent. The brilliance of creating the substantive character of Jane's imaginative, and passionate nature controlled and locked away in the attic who seamlessly melded with the character of the mad wife revealed so much more to me than I had gained from my reading. Rochester's account of his meeting of his wife was wonderfully illustrated by the cast recreating a wild exotic and glamorous West Indian scene as a backdrop to his words. Most importantly the whole cast blended so well together and who could not help chuckling at the guy who so delightfully and convincingly played the part of Rochester's dog! For the very first time I actua11y believed in the relationship between J and R!

ARMS AND THE MAN

Four of us went to a matinee performance of this Bernard Shaw play. We first treated ourselves to a light lunch at Fisherton Mill and then moved down the road to the delightful and comfortable Playhouse theatre. As is expected of this theatre we were treated to a polished fast moving we11 timed comedy production. Nothing rea11y to write home about but a very enjoyable and entertaining outing.

RABBI LIONEL BLUE

The Point at Eastleigh is now arranging speakers for one off evenings so I think we shall keep an eye on these particularly as they get booked up very quickly. Rabbi Lionel Blue was just as I expected from hearing him so frequently on the radio. He held the stage for almost an hour with highly entertaining jokes and anecdotes.

During the interval he signed books and without a break was back on the stage with more stories and to field questions from the audience. At the conclusion, having expressed his interest in meeting people he stated he would be in the foyer to chat and would stay until everyone had left, quite a feat for someone recovering from cancer. A very uplifting evening.