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After the hype of Chimps and the high expectations I had of the play I have to say I was disappointed with it. It dragged on painfully and could have been cut down to half the time it took for it to get where it was going. The characters were very paper thin; the actors who did perform fantastically were cursed by poor writing involving poorly mixed humour with darker emotional drama. For example the final scene which was meant to be the most emotional turned into a slapstick which was confusing and inappropriate. The only character with any depth in my opinion was Lawrence, the salesman who had been made redundant and was determined to keep his job no matter what. This part was played phenomenally by Nick Wilton. However no matter how talented the actors are, if the play is written incompetently then the actors and directors are pretty much stuck.
Despite this major flaw some good points can be drawn from the production. The set was very well arranged as the couple, Mark and Stevie’s (played by Ben Lambert and Jenny Platt) new house, stage divided into kitchen and front room, with a front door at the back. They did not try anything fancy with the lighting but instead dimmed in the room that was not being used and lit up the room in use, the simplicity I felt was best and let you concentrate on the body language and what the actors were saying. Costumes were also thought out well, with Gabriel, the high flying veteran salesmen played by Vinta Morgan in a sharp, pinstripe suit and his less successful companion, Lawrence wearing a rather cheap and crude jacket and slacks.
However these good points do not make up for the fact that it is a very poorly written play which was, as I have said, very disappointing.
Hugh Millea
Sudbury Upper School
30 April 2009
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