Raise a glass to director's debut
Compton Players: Shakers Re-Stirred, at the Coronation Hall, Compton, from Wednesday, May 9 to Saturday, May 12
In Shakers Re-Stirred, by John Godber and Jane Thornton, the
action takes place on a busy night in the Shakers cocktail bar, the place to
be seen and where the Happy Hour(s) aren't very happy at all.
We see the incidents unfold in a kind of flashback, as seen through the
eyes of four waitresses: Carol (Helen Saxton), Adele (Ruth Brown), Nicky
(Naomi Read) and Mel (Rebecca Warrington). All of these have their personal
reasons for suffering unsocial working hours and tolerating an array of
unacceptable customer behaviour.
Switching in the flick of an eye and an effective lighting change, the
waitresses change characters to parody their customers: a group of lads on
the pull, fatuous businessmen, a group of silly shop assistants, a snobby
pair of lovers, and many more.
Here the actors used good body language, accents and voices to portray
their diverse myriad of unwelcome patrons. The action never let up, everyone
bustling from scene to scene and in and out of character and reflecting
modern culture and attitudes. At times the waitresses also confided with the
audience about their personal lives, adding pathos to the comedy.
The four obviously enjoyed their roles, worked well as a team and were
all impressive in the delivery of their sizeable parts (and their enforced
service smiles).
Phil Prior, in his debut as a director, must be pleased with the end
result - stylish, entertaining and very slick theatre.
Eric Saxton's excellent modern set with its bold geometries and Nick
Roberts' colourful lighting deserve a special mention and the waitresses'
costumes all emblazoned with the Shakers logos were perfectly conceived.
A brave choice, with some fruity dialogue which may have challenged some
of the Compton Players' regular audience - this may have resulted in fewer
laughs than might have been expected.
Nonetheless, congratulations to Compton Players for trying something
different.
TREVOR DOBSON
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