The evening included some of the members' comedy writing plus a short one-act farce written by Nick Hall. On the opening night, when I attended, the audience were very well entertained by this eclectic mix. In the programme it is described as 'a grab-bag, a sketch show, an almanac, a fast moving revue'. The show was listed in the programme in the style of a restaurant menu – hence the title A la Carte. We had the appetisers/entrees in the form of seven different comedy sketches written by members of the cast, and the comedy farce Pastiche written by Nick Hall. This resulted in lots of the company being able to show off their particular acting and comedy talents. The first sketch - Away with the Fairies - featuring Mark Williamson in a pink fairy costume and Katie Russell as the job centre interviewee, had me laughing along with the rest of the audience, and particularly the line, 'I am the fairy godfather, a cross between Boy George and Marlon Brando!'. There were some excellent performances in the other sketches particularly from Katie Russell (again), Rachel Creamer, Graham Greensit, Pip Tibbets, Pam Wilson, David Williamson and Dan Cole. Pastiche, was performed in the second half of the show and is a crazy tale as an evening descends into chaos when a long-suffering wife plans to foil her husband's assignation with a young chorus girl. All four characters, Sir Peter (Martin Key), Medford (Alan Wright), Lady Alexander (Pam Wilson) and Viola Vionysse (Maria-Elena Metaxas) were extremely well played by the actors but for sheer comedy I must single out Alan and Maria-Elena. Two contrasting halves, but excellent comedy in both and a formula that seems to have worked extremely well. I, for one, was thoroughly entertained. |
