Nidderdale and District Drama Festival, 2002
Pateley Bridge Dramatic Society
A RESPECTABLE FUNERAL
By Jimmy Chinn
A deservedly popular little play, exploiting very neatly the tensions and rivalries which surface at any of our "rites of passage". Three sisters of (presumably) working-class background, aspiring to a more genteel life-style, and still, in middle age, re-living their sibling squabbles. They are carefully differentiated in manner and personality, and they are a sharp contrast to brother Charlie, the pattern of whose life has been very different from theirs. The play is firmly anchored in a northern industrial setting, and its humour is based on the kind of blunt outspokenness which we always associate with it.
THE PERFORMANCES Tough, down-to-earth and unsentimental is Evadne, very well played by Ruth Dodsworth. She sees no need, in front of her sisters, to mince her words or hide her feelings, and she comes across as almost entirely without sympathy for the recently deceased. A good deal of the comedy in this play comes from her sparring with Joyce (Jo Jefferson); they are constantly bickering, though often in a reasonably good-humoured way, and they seem to share a certain contempt for their remaining sister, Greta (here played by Fiona Hewison). Ruth's performance was strong, well in character, and admirably consistent, she is the last one to give way to Charlie's request, and she handled this reluctant conversion with considerable thoughtfulness and skill. I could find little to fault in this very natural and convincing characterisation; the only point I would make is that she has to hold her own against a Joyce who, in this interpretation, was very dominant, full of energy and attack. On the page, Joyce is the sentimental one, a contrast to the hard-bitten Evadne; but, although Jo gave us that, she also turned out to be the one whose forceful delivery, and superb comic timing, provided us with most of the laughs. These two are, in one sense, a double act, and together they combine to disparage the weakest link, Greta, who goes from being a complaining hypochondriac to a rather tipsy member of the trio. I liked Fiona's self-pitying tone; and she had the good sense not to make the effect of the whisky too obvious. Like the other two, she was relaxed and natural; but, since we never know how many of her aches and pains are genuine, she might have made a bit more of them. She sees herself as a martyr to illness, and we would have been more amused, I think, if she had made a bit more obvious fuss. The cast is completed by the arrival of Charlie, played by Peter Buller. This was a sensitive performance: he started off (as who wouldn't, faced by the three witches?) in a tentative, even apologetic, manner, but as the action proceeded he grew in confidence and determination. He handled his key speech very well, and his concern for his wife was entirely sincere. It made an interesting contrast with the attitude of Greta to her husband's infidelity; the more courage she got from the whisky, the less she seemed to care about what he was up to in Bristol - or wherever it was.
DIRECTION The striking thing about this production was the sense of an ensemble. These three women played off each other beautifully, and we had the feeling that they knew each other, knew what to expect of each other, and were thoroughly at home in each other's company. The pace was admirable, and each player reacted well - and quickly - to what the others were saying. There was an effective change of pace when the question of money was first raised, and we begin to see signs of personal selfishness rising within the group. Movement on a necessarily cluttered stage is bound to be restricted, and on the whole it was well managed. In the early part of the play there was a bit of cramped groping in the u.s.r. corner; and, towards the end of the play, Charlie (d.r.) was masking Greta. These were minor lapses: Charlie was well placed behind the settee for his big speech; and I liked the way you managed to isolate Evadne - the only standing figure u.r.c. - when she was holding out against parting with the house. This was a thoughtful and effective production.
STAGE PRESENTATION The stage looked suitably crowded and untidy, and there were some nice touches - particularly the pile of unopened letters and bills in the bureau. I don't suggest you move the bookcase with the paperbacks in it, but we need to avoid the moment when two of the actors disappeared behind the settee to look at the books. Leave a few books scattered about, or bring a few of them out where we can see the actors as they examine them. Costume was very appropriate: you contrived to provide three quite different versions of mourning dress, to suit the individual personalities of the sisters. The play doesn't really call for any special effects, but you might make a bit more of the lighting - or lack of it - at the beginning. After the opening music, a glimmer of light (off-stage, perhaps, on the opposite side from the entrance of the women) would relieve the total blackness, and would make more Sense of Evadne's opening off-stage line.
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I enjoyed this production very much. Neither the idea nor the text is strikingly new, but you made the most of it, finding both humour and pathos in the situation. I wish you the best of luck with it.
Derek Slater
March, 2002