Carlton Dramatic Society

Review - 'Showcase LXXX', 23-24 February 2007, reviewed by Matthew Petty

Click on the link above for details on all the directors, cast and crew

After the crowds had been herded and goaded to their seats, after the usual frantic sparking of tea-lights and popping of corks, after the rustling of packets and the popping of Pringles™, the lights dimmed, or perhaps my eyes are going.

James Grayston opened the evening with a piece called, 'The Night I Appeared As Macbeth', a poignant reminder that The Bard can be a harsh mistress, especially with a tough crowd.

Next up was another well crafted slice of murderous misogyny from Neil Kelly, 'Praying Mantis', a short play about a woman whose many husbands have popped their clogs in suspicious circumstances. But will this one suffer the same fate? Probably.

'The Waitress' is a classic Victoria Wood sketch about a slow and decrepit member of the restaurant staff having trouble taking an order for soup. Tori Heggs played the character with the correct vim and gumption the part demanded. Even her tortured shuffling across the stage caused some belly laughs. How cruel those punters can be.

For a bit of a break from all that acting, Jason treated us to one of his self-penned and self-strummed songs, 'The Writing's On The Wall', and then it was straight into an excerpt from 'Billy Liar', with Jason playing the eponymous Billy, beset by mutiple demanding fiances.

Andrew Candish then appeared on the stage, coughing, swigging from a hip flask, and dressed head to foot in rags. After checking the (wonderfully well-designed) programme, I realised Andrew had done this deliberately to more closely resemble his character in a monologue from Edward Bond's 'The Sea', in which a beach-living tramp considers life on other planets, and whether it's as vicious out there as it is down here.

To lighten the mood somewhat, Mike Norman-Smith's 'Shark-infested Waters' gave us a vignette of the power struggles and politics of the playpool. Ruth showed that kids grow up so fast these days, as did Mike's beard.

The resulting resounding applause gave way to the interval, wherein your correspondent ran to Sainsbury's to buy milk for the half-time cuppas, which caused him to work up a terrible thirst. Luckily some Merlot was on hand for the quenching.

During the interval, Showcase producer Kristen McGorry did the honours by drawing the raffle tickets so that noone suspected it was all a con. She was assisted in this onerous task by freshly quenched correspondent. And very fresh he was too.

Then back to the business of the evening. The first item after the noise died down was a Beatles song lyric performed as a short sketch by Carlton newcomer Alun Goodman and Carlton vet Ruth Brooks. Most amusing, but I was disappointed that they didn't choose to do 'I Am The Walrus'.

Another Mike Norman-Smith joint, 'Holiday Acquaintances', put forward the possibility that Saint Nick likes to travel to sunnier climes when not making his naughty/nice list. Mike looked the part of course, and was joined on stage by another Carlton newcomer, Michael Mangroo, whose description of chocolate sponge with custard had your correspondent's mouth watering.

The back to the Victoria Wood archive for a wonderfully callous piece, 'The Reporter', in which a local news hack and her thuggish photog barge in and stamp all over a recent widow's grief. I laughed and laughed.

'There are Smiles' was a real highlight of the evening. At the risk of overusing the word 'poignant', this was very poignant. Packed with Carlton newcomers - it must be the tea that attracts them - Brian Aris, Sara Erne, Alun Goodman and in her first Carlton acting role, Jo Forest-Jones, this story of the way a smile can bring light into the most mundane lives. Of course, with light comes shade, and the ending of this tale was a truly sad moment. Excellent performances all round, including the always-wonderful Netty Piper - this was my favourite piece of the evening. I particularly liked the car.

'Teechers'-tomboy Naomi Nicholson played a frustrated Elizabethan housewife getting off on writing dirty letters, and good luck to her. A very funny monologue, packed with well-crafted looks and reactions.

To round off the evening in the traditional manner, with some no-nonsense comedy, we called on Neil Kelly once again to give us another Boy's Own style tale of skullduggery, this time involving a helpless damsel and some railway tracks. Can Henwy - sorry - Henry save Miwwanda - sorry - Miranda from the eveil clutches of Sir Percy (another Carlton newcomer, Jeremy Wray?)? More to the point, can he be bothered?

All in all, it was a great show, and congratulations are due to all involved, cast, crew, directors, and of course the producer who held it all together while coming apart herself, Kristen McGorry.

Showcase LXXX was just the ticket to kick off the Carlton's 80th Year. Let's hope we can surpass this high standard throughout 2007!