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Society:  The Chameleons Amateur Dramatic Society
Production:  The Scottish Play
Date:  21st May 2011
Venue: Kingsland Hall, United Reform Church, East Lane, Wembley
Report by: Harvey Kesselman (NODA)

It is possibly the ambition of many actors in Amateur Theatre to direct Macbeth in spite of the ‘curse’ that surrounds speaking the name of the play during rehearsals.  Therefore before any production is fully staged, the play is referred to as “The Scottish Play”.  So any reference to that Shakespeare play in this report will only mention that title, or just S.P.

The sound of bagpipes filled the auditorium and the curtains opened to reveal three witches on stage.  A telephone ringing interrupts their dialogue.  Michael, a member of the Shellsfoot Thespians, an amateur dramatic company, answers it.  We then realise, by his conversation over the telephone, that the three witches are really a figment of his imagination as he is obsessed by a certain play that he is longing to direct. When he finds a gap in the autumn season, he sees an opportunity to fill it by directing  ‘The Scottish Play’.  He is able to persuade his fellow thespians, particularly his best friend, Frank, to go along with his ‘grand plan’.  All the problems that beset Amateur Theatre are then encountered: there aren’t enough men, who is going to play the Scottish man’s wife, not wanting to cast a particular person in a role she obviously will covert – plus the ‘curse’ that hangs over the play – will it affect this production – the suspense is awesome.

Michael is a stalwart of the company with a strong will (when it comes to the Shellsfort Thespians) and to that end we see him to be someone with but one thought in his mind – The Scottish Play.  Unfortunately this is not the case with his actual work, which is as an Estate Agent.  Stuart Everett was terrific in the part.  He made sure that the audience was aware of his obsession that was affecting everything he did.  In the real world, he works for a boss who does not understand Michael’s obsession and makes it quite clear that unless he pays more attention to his job, there will be dire consequences.  Stuart was splendid as Michael showing all his worries and frustration in trying to bring to the stage his passion for that particular Shakespeare play.  His imagination runs riot and he is constantly imagining the scenes he would direct, which are played out on stage, but then he returns to the dull (as he sees it) present world.   He worries about the casting of Lady S.P.  There is also his concern that one of the players, who has a financial interest in the Shellsfoot Thespians makes it known, in no uncertain terms, that she wants the part of Lady S.P.  He has great difficulty in not being overawed by her and instead casts his own wife in the role.  Playing Frank was a bearded Robert Spolander whose performance really suited the role of the leading actor in this group.  Once he had agreed to play the principal role in The Scottish Play, he proceeded to learn the part.  In rehearsal, Robert starts to declaim one of the great speeches in the play; ‘Tomorrow and tomorrow’ etc. only to be told by the director that he needed to show much more passion in this soliloquy.  Robert duly obliged and the speech became much more dramatic.  His concern over his affair with Michael’s wife and the rapport he had with Michael could have put quite a strain on their relationship, although his friend seemed to have no idea of their association, being, as he was, so involved with the passion he felt for The S.P.  Michael is quite distressed when Frank decides to leave the company and is much relieved when he returns.  As Lynne, Michael’s wife, Catherine Waters gave a splendid performance.  She was down to earth, her dialogue was clear and well projected.  She looked quite regal as Lady S.P. and I was glad to note the wristwatch she was wearing in the ‘dressing room’ (whilst in costume) had been removed for the actual ‘performance/rehearsal’.  Ian Byrne as Frank, a sort of stage manager/prop maker/jack of all trades, was most amusing, with some good dialogue, well-spoken, keeping well in character throughout.  One felt so sympathetic towards Barnaby who was a rather simple soul, all he wanted was to be part of the Thespians, longing to act and, after giving him a small part in rehearsal, it was cruelly taken away from him by a frustrated director.  We were first introduced to him trying to sell programmes to the audience before the play had actually started and creating the character we later saw on stage.  Ben Parker certainly managed to get the audience on his side and the ‘ah’s’ he received when he lost the speaking part in the play bore this out.

Because her husband had supported (with money) the Shellsfoot Thespians, and once it had been announced that the company were to perform The Scottish Play, Geraldine really thought she had the right to play Lady S.P. and being furious to learn the part had been given to the director’s wife, tried to prevent the performance from taking place by making the venue ‘out of bounds’ to the company.  Simone Lee-Tyrassek played that part beautifully, she considered herself as the ‘grande dame’ of the theatre, everything she did was over the top, and her frustration was wonderfully obvious.  It was a lovely performance.  The frustration shown by Michael’s boss at his lack of commitment to the Estate Agency, and in spite of several warnings, Les Dye, played by Stephen Smails, finally has had enough, shows his irritation and sacks him.  Sally, Fiona and Mary (doubling up as Jackie switch board operator – with a laptop), played by Karen Deehan, Rachel Simpson and Kathryn Priest were all very good in their characterization and all greatly contributed to the success of the play.

This was quite an impressive production and the use of ‘staggered’ curtains in the various scene changes was a clever idea.  What also worked well was how, by clever use of flats, Michael and Lynne’s apartment was turned into the office were Michael ‘worked’ with Estate Agent displayed on the ‘window’ at the back of the set in reverse.  A nice touch.  The raffle in the second act was very funny, once the audience realised it was part of the play, and the dialogue was most amusing.  With the amount of scenes involved in this production and considering the size of the stage, it was quite amazing how so much was achieved, although it is fair to say that some of the changes were inclined to be a bit long.  The dialogue was well projected and the pace just right and it was great that when anybody mentioned the correct name of the play, they kept to the tradition of turning round three times and then spit.  Glorious.  The input of everyone both on stage and back stage helped greatly to the success of this performance; the clever Set Design was by Denis O’Brien and constructed by Denis and members of The Chameleons; Zoë Roxon was the Stage Manager: Sound and Lighting Design by the very reliable John Jetton; Prompt, Geoffrey Coad (who had very little to say (if anything); Props, Helen Downer; Production Manager, Robert Spolander.  This was the first Production by Nikki Amory and she is to be congratulated on her direction, which was very enjoyable, it was a fun evening that the audience (and this reporter) thoughoughly enjoyed.  A very well produced informative programme.

Thanks also to Jason Kosky for looking after us.

Congratulations The Chameleons.