Silchester Players

Under the thumb

SILCHESTER PLAYERS: 'KING ARTHUR, A PANTOMIME ADVENTURE IN CAMELOT', at Silchester Village Hall, on Friday, January 21, Saturday, January 22, Friday, January 28, and Saturday, January 29

It may not be the King Arthur of romantic tradition, but Paul Reakes' pantomime adventure in Camelot (staged last week by Silchester Players) is a delightful tale with something for everyone.

Instead of the swashbuckling hero, Silchester's Arthur was a cheery but henpecked monarch, while his fair Guinevere had certainly seen better days!

Silchester Players are lucky to have a wealth of comic character actors, and John Coffin's Arthur contrasted excellently with Keith Graham's dame queen, dominating the stage throughout.

Arthur was attended by a suitably-imposing Merlin (Gary Belcher), adding a touch of magic in rhyming couplets, and a young but very confident Richard Oliver as the sword bearer.  Bryan Gillet and Jo Nobbs as Squire Squirt and his long-suffering girlfriend Sally struck up an instant rapport with the audience as they were given the run-around by Smoulder the baby dragon (cutely performed by Sarah Stagg).

Thankfully Camelot hadn't lost all its noble warriors: Sir Lancelot (Sarah Oliver) was on-hand to defend the king's honour and woo the lovely Olivia (a strong performance from young Tori Treasure).  In true panto style, Lancelot's credibility was almost dashed by Arthur's scheming cousin Morgana (a deliciously evil Jill Hutchins) and her incompetent son Mordred (a fine cameo from Alan Moorhouse).

Even director Kevin Belcher appeared on stage briefly, as Smoulder's fire-breathing mum, just in time to incinerate the villains and return Camelot to peace and harmony.

While some of the solo singing was a little quiet, Silchester Players put 100 per cent into their chorus numbers: there were plenty of smiles, a tuneful accompaniment by Stephen Oliver, and firm simple choreography from Trevor Dobson and Sarah Oliver.

The junior chorus items were particularly successful, with some hugely enthusiastic cheer-leaders supporting Sir Lancelot and a nicely staged ultra-violet scene in Morgana's castle (how did they get the dry ice to behave so well?).

With a colourful set and some great props - I loved the jousting knights on horseback - this was a truly memorable performance.  Catch it on Friday and Saturday.

Good choice of classic thriller

SILCHESTER PLAYERS: 'NIGHT MUST FALL', at Silchester Village Hall, on Friday, May 13, Saturday, May 14, Friday, May 20, and Saturday, May 21

It's the stuff that all good thrillers are made of: a secluded cottage in the country - home to the wheelchair-bound Mrs Bramson, her spinster niece Olivia, and a couple of servants. When a wealthy woman from the village disappears in mysterious circumstances and then turns up headless in the Bramson rubbish pit, the suspicion immediately falls on the self-assured young Danny, who is making himself at home with the family. But Mrs Bramson can't see past Danny's charming facade, and a second murder seems almost inevitable.

The storyline belongs to Emlyn Williams' psychological drama Night Must Fall, staged last week by Silchester Players. This was an ambitious choice of play, and I felt that the players struggled at times to achieve the necessary pace. Written and set in 1935, the plot seemed somewhat thin compared with more contemporary thrillers, and the play's impact relied heavily on the chemistry between the principal characters.

Sadly this interaction didn't really come across strongly enough - particularly the sinister bond that grows between Danny and Olivia as the latter struggles to understand her feelings towards the young guest.

Having said that, there were some fine performances from the small cast. Lyn Davies was superbly entertaining as the housekeeper and village gossip Mrs Terence, while Jo Nobbs gave a good if slightly distracted performance as the young maid Dora.

Nick Lock was perfectly cast as the tenacious Inspector Belsize, and Alan Moorhouse delivered a fine performance as Olivia's bumbling but caring suitor Hubert. Sarah Oliver made a brief but lively appearance as Nurse Libby.

Caroline Norton portrayed the attention-seeking Mrs Bramson very capably, conveying both the character's demanding nature and her blind naivete towards Danny.

Brian Gillett, as the superficially agreeable Danny, gave an energetic and menacing performance in a very demanding role; and Helen Chesterman captured the anguish and uncertainty that plagued the sceptical Olivia.

Despite my concerns about the pace, this was a good opportunity to see a classic period thriller. The well-designed set, props, and lighting added considerably to the atmosphere, thanks to Keith Graham's backstage team, and directors Gill and John Coffin should be congratulated for trying something a little out of the ordinary.

Just bad enough to be good

SILCHESTER PLAYERS: 'SILCHESTER PLAYERS, OF COARSE', at Silchester Village Hall, on Friday, October 7, Saturday, October 8, Friday, October 14, and Saturday, October 15

Nobody captures the essence of the ham actor like Michael Green. In his book The Art of Coarse Acting and a series of associated plays, he highlights the heroic qualities of those amateur performers who soldier on with desperate optimism while the production gradually falls apart around them.

Silchester Players provided a delightful evening's entertainment last week with three of the coarse acting classics, under the apt title Silchester Players, Of Coarse.

In the first of the trio, Oedocles King of Thebes, we encountered the tragic tale of the testosterone-driven ruler who takes advantage of the fair Ovary in the shrubbery, only to meet a fitting revenge at the hands of his victim - with the help of a sacred pair of garden shears. Alan Moorhouse as Oedocles and Monica Stace as Ovary both brought plenty of comic tragedy to their roles, but it was the chorus, led by the over-zealous Priestess with halitosis (Lyn Davies), who really stole the show with their ear-splitting wailing, appalling timing and a wild determination to beat the king's corpse into submission with branches, literally leaving the poor actor turning in the grave.

The group then turned their attention to pantomime, with Mr Green's coarse-acting version of Cinderella. This was every amdram group's picture of panto hell, with the most improbable ugly sisters imaginable (nicely-played by Nick Lock and Kevin Belcher), a good fairy (Jill Hutchins) who struggled in vain to fly serenely around the stage, and a Cinderella (a very strong performance from Ellie Cullen) who was plagued throughout by missing props and missed cues. Alan Moorhouse appeared again, this time as Buttons, whose puerile stand-up routine and constantly roaming accent made the other characters wince at every turn. Mandy Larby's panto-cat-with-attitude (complete with a bottle of lager) and Caroline Norton's distinctly unhelpful and obtrusive prompter added further to the mayhem.

The third playlet of the evening, Henry the Tenth (Part Seven), managed to include every excruciating moment from the worst amateur Shakespeare, from the chorus (Stephen Oliver) repeatedly drowned out by an over-enthusiastic drummer (Sarah Oliver), to the Herald (a fine performance from young Matthew Leung), beaten repeatedly for bearing bad news, to the hapless Baron Smethwick (Kevin Belcher) who could never remove his sword from the scabbard at the right moment. The affable Alan Moorhouse was once again centre-stage as Lord Uxbridge, accompanied by Keith Graham as a distinctly Richard the Third-like Lord Amersham and John Coffin as the King. The battle in the woods and the ensuing comic events surrounding the swearing in of the new king (a baby doll that very quickly lost its head!) were a joy to watch and had the audience in hysterics.

Silchester Players, of Coarse was a real credit to directors Brian Gillett and Keith Graham. A special mention must also go to the sound man Tim Oliver, who managed to get all the sound effects just wrong enough throughout the evening.