A BUNCH OF AMATEURS by Ian Hislop and Nick Newman Directed by Lesley Hornsby Knutsford Little Theatre It is always a pleasure to visit this lovely theatre where a warm welcome and a good evening’s entertainment are assured, and tonight was no exception. On reading that A Bunch of Amateurs was penned by Ian Hislop and Nick Newman, I was anticipating some acerbic wit and cutting remarks about the world of amateur dramatics. Not a bit of it. This is a really funny play, with acerbic wit a-plenty, but balanced against a good deal of affection for the ‘Am Dram’ folk. The play opens with the cast on stage and, an almost too convincing, appeal to the audience from their director Dorothy, to support the theatre at risk from closure. At first, I was a little taken aback as this is a rather too familiar appeal these days, until I realised it is the starting premise of the play. The appeal prompts her to write to a string of Hollywood A listers inviting them to take part in their production of King Lear. Only one, distinctly jaded ‘star’, Jefferson Steel, accepts the invitation but only because he thinks he is taking part in a production at Stratford upon Avon, home of the RSC, as opposed to a converted barn in Stratford, Suffolk. After fruitless appeals to his agent to “get him out of here”, he grudgingly resigns to his fate and begins to understand the true value of family and friendship. The simple and effective set designed by Sean Duvall comprised of a vibrant, but not intrusive, backdrop of dozens of past-production posters. The magic happened at the scene changes when the backdrop could roll open at various points to reveal a dining room of Mary’s B&B and later, Jefferson’s bedroom for the physiotherapy scene. Scene changes by Sean, not one to miss a comedy opportunity, developed as he carved himself an unofficial cameo role of disgruntled caretaker. Directed by Lesley Hornsby, the action of the play kept up a good pace, the rehearsal scenes weren’t too static, and she overcame some potentially challenging actor placings. Full justice was done to the hilarious script. Moments when the line delivery could have been snappier were few and far between and the audience were quickly swept along with the antics on stage. The end of scene Jester quotes by each actor were smoothly done and perpetuated the theme of King Lear reflecting the action on stage. In the programme notes Lesley promised us characters that were engaging and believable and, along with a talented cast, she certainly helped to deliver that. From the opening appeal speech, Kate Henry as Dorothy Nettle, gave us a skilful
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