Love Begins at Fifty
Fri, 27 Nov 2009, 08:36 amGordon the Optom1 post in thread
Love Begins at Fifty
Fri, 27 Nov 2009, 08:36 am
About to celebrate his fiftieth birthday, and after 28 years of a loyal, but hen-pecked mundane marriage, shy and nervous Clive DeBanks (Gary Billingham) decides there must be more to life than his present boring routine. Perhaps one last fling! So with the help of his pal Jack (Murray Jackson), he chooses three very different, potential partners (Elizabeth Connor, Natalie Plunkett and Marian Byrne) from the 'Lonely Hearts' column of the local paper.
In the same paper, Claire (Charlene Plunkett), a friend of Clive’s wife Anita (Fran Gordon) shows Anita a competition to find the perfect married couple with a Caribbean cruise being the first prize. Anita enters the competition, but keeps it a secret from Clive.
No sooner has Clive set up a date, when his daughter Tracy (Eilannin Dhu) comes home to Daddy having left her husband.
A news photographer (Niall O’Toole) arrives to take the pictures of the happy couple on an evening that Anita is away, but one of Clive’s harem is there – what should Clive do? With all the delicious birthday party food ordered, will it go to waste?
Director Carole Wilson kept the delivery pace going very well, although there were a couple of places where the flow between actors was a little slow. Carole should be congratulated on taking on a couple of newcomers to the stage, and getting such good performances in what is a difficult genre of play. The entire cast captured their characters perfectly, with their routines well above average, with Natalie Plunkett and Murray Jackson letting their hair down and just ‘going for it’!
The set of the DeBanks comfortable sitting room was exceptional (Kevan Hook, Tom Brandwood and Jim Chantry) and looked lived in. The scene changes would be little more slick if planned better, 90 seconds is a bit long for minor modifications.
It is easy to see how this hilarious, gem of a play ran for two months at the holiday resorts of Newquay and Torquay. Writers often work to a laugh-a-minute; this magical mix had the belly laughs every fifteen seconds. The situations were fresh, frenetic and interesting, the style more of confusion and misunderstanding, than doors opening and shutting.
All Royalties from all of Hopkins’ plays are generously donated by the playwright to the Multiple Sclerosis Foundation, with his total contributions to date at around 20,000 pounds ($38,000).
A superbly structured script, filled with one-liners and asides that this full house loved. A thoroughly good laugh – if you can get a ticket.
About to celebrate his fiftieth birthday, and after 28 years of a loyal, but hen-pecked mundane marriage, shy and nervous Clive DeBanks (Gary Billingham) decides there must be more to life than his present boring routine. Perhaps one last fling! So with the help of his pal Jack (Murray Jackson), he chooses three very different, potential partners (Elizabeth Connor, Natalie Plunkett and Marian Byrne) from the 'Lonely Hearts' column of the local paper.
In the same paper, Claire (Charlene Plunkett), a friend of Clive’s wife Anita (Fran Gordon) shows Anita a competition to find the perfect married couple with a Caribbean cruise being the first prize. Anita enters the competition, but keeps it a secret from Clive.
No sooner has Clive set up a date, when his daughter Tracy (Eilannin Dhu) comes home to Daddy having left her husband.
A news photographer (Niall O’Toole) arrives to take the pictures of the happy couple on an evening that Anita is away, but one of Clive’s harem is there – what should Clive do? With all the delicious birthday party food ordered, will it go to waste?
Director Carole Wilson kept the delivery pace going very well, although there were a couple of places where the flow between actors was a little slow. Carole should be congratulated on taking on a couple of newcomers to the stage, and getting such good performances in what is a difficult genre of play. The entire cast captured their characters perfectly, with their routines well above average, with Natalie Plunkett and Murray Jackson letting their hair down and just ‘going for it’!
The set of the DeBanks comfortable sitting room was exceptional (Kevan Hook, Tom Brandwood and Jim Chantry) and looked lived in. The scene changes would be little more slick if planned better, 90 seconds is a bit long for minor modifications.
It is easy to see how this hilarious, gem of a play ran for two months at the holiday resorts of Newquay and Torquay. Writers often work to a laugh-a-minute; this magical mix had the belly laughs every fifteen seconds. The situations were fresh, frenetic and interesting, the style more of confusion and misunderstanding, than doors opening and shutting.
All Royalties from all of Hopkins’ plays are generously donated by the playwright to the Multiple Sclerosis Foundation, with his total contributions to date at around 20,000 pounds ($38,000).
A superbly structured script, filled with one-liners and asides that this full house loved. A thoroughly good laugh – if you can get a ticket.