ACT in Action Issue 17

Hulme gave a confident portrayal of the Mother Abbess and a fine rendition of “Climb Ev’ry Mountain”. Supporting and cameo roles were well cast, in particular, Joyce Willis as Frau Schmidt, the naval captain’s housekeeper. Baron von Trapp is on the lookout for a new bride and a mother for his seven children. The wealthy Elsa Schraeder accepts the captain’s proposal. Beverly Eaves brought a charm and sophistication to the role. Aiding in the romance is the unscrupulous “Uncle”, Max Detweiler. Gary Ward, with bundles of character, entertained as Max, the impresario of the Salzburg festival. The engagement does not last long as Elsa is not prepared to stand up to the Nazis. The Von Trapp family obeyed their father like obedient dogs as he called them with his bosun’s whistle. The female Head of the family is Liesl, who is sixteen going on seventeen, and experiencing her first romance with Rolf. Melissa Steele portrayed a heartfelt, vulnerable teenager singing sweetly, especially the duet with Rolf (Sam Bolton). The relationship soon ends with Rolf’s new ideology. The other six children were delightful with joyous energy: they stole the audience’s hearts, as well as Maria’s. Robbie Carnegie displayed all the necessary traits of the frosty, emotionally distant, Captain Georg von Trapp. I know the script is a little abrupt on how Maria and Georg finally fall in love but I felt Maria read a little more between the lines than was on display. Filling the shoes of Maria, KimCooper, with ungainly cheerfulness breezed her way into the role. Her chemistry with the children gave the show warmth and gained audience approval making this production of The Sound of Music one of their favourite things. The production celebrated the refurbishing of the Arts Theatre

LOVE FROM A STRANGER by Agatha Christie & Frank Vosper Directed by Garth Jones Altrincham Little Theatre I would think that most people regard Agatha Christie as one of the greatest thriller writers ever. Her books, especially those of the exploits of Hercule Poirot and Miss Jane Marple are some of her best works. They have been adapted many times for television and film, which have entertained numerous generations in many countries since being first published. However, unless you are a true fan, many of us would not realise the enormity of her other works and back catalogue, such as this play, which started out in 1934 as a short story, Philomel Cottage. Two years later Christie wrote a stage version, and in 1936 the actor-playwright Frank Vosper rewrote it as Love from a Stranger. The play opens with Cecily Harrington (Sarah Reilly) packing up her shared flat, aided by her snooty aunt Louise (Cherrill Wyche), after winning £25,000 on a sweepstake which she shares with her flat- mate, Mavis (Emma Cartledge). It gives her the opportunity to reflect on how tedious, ordinary and mundane her life has become. She works in an office and is due to marry her fiancé, Nigel (Robert Smith), who is arriving from Sudan. Nigel is the sort of man who is decent and dependable but that is not enough for Cecily and when the mysterious, Bruce Lovell (Harry Chambers- Morris) comes to look at the flat with a view to purchasing it, she is immediately attracted to him. Cecily is swept off her feet by this stranger with an American accent, and tales of adventure from all over the world. Within hours they are engaged and are next glimpsed in apparent marital bliss in a remote cottage in the country.

As with most Christie writings there are many red herrings which keep us all guessing how the play will end. Initially we are led to believe that she will suffer from the old saying of, “marry in haste and repent at leisure” as Cecily is now effectively isolated in a remote cottage, away from friends and family and that her husband’s strange and erratic behaviour puts her in danger. The build-up of tension throughout the play was rewarded with the “twist” at the end of which I shall not reveal. It was great to see some new faces joining the society for this play, Harry, Emma and in the main role, Sarah. What a lot of dialogue to learn and an array of emotions to portray, from a confident and independent woman to an almost scared married woman who is not quite sure of herself. All this was achieved by Sarah. I must commend Harry on the lengths he went to in achieving the look for his character by peroxiding/dying his own hair blond to fit the description of the character: not many people would do that. An air of the sinister purveyed from him right from the start. I would have liked the character to be a bit more confident and assertive in the beginning but I was impressed that here was a man not afraid to be tactile on stage. The ripping out of a picture in the newspaper and pointed look to the audience at the end of the first act established his bad boy credentials with us all. Dotty, snooty Aunt Lou was a particular delight to watch. Cherrill set the scene of why everything was being packed up from the very opening. Throughout her scenes there was good paced dialogue, especially with Emma. Her delivery and accompanying facial expressions brought out the humour of the piece and had many of us chuckling. I found myself wondering if Agatha Christie wrote this character as a persona of herself? I enjoyed the interactions between Cherrill and Emma very much,

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