Wymondham Players

Thirty and more years ago, Alan Ayckbourn quickly established himself as the master of light comedy for the later 20th century. His situations and characterisation were masterly, and his favourite target was the dysfunctional family trying its best not to get the neighbours talking. Perhaps the peak of his achievement in this respect was the trilogy of plays he named The Norman Conquests, a brilliantly clever affair which, in an ideal world, needs to be seen on three successive evenings, in order to appreciate the playwright's skill and inventiveness. Nonetheless, each play of the trilogy stands up perfectly well in its own right, as was displayed recently by Wymondham Players' delightful rendering of Part II of the trilogy, Table Manners.


A registered charity No. 266705	TABLE MANNERS REVIEW by David Hare
website designed by ALAN CARPENTER		Thirty and more years ago, Alan Ayckbourn quickly established himself as the master of light comedy for the later 20th century. His situations and characterisation were masterly, and his favourite target was the dysfunctional family trying its best not to get the neighbours talking. Perhaps the peak of his achievement in this respect was the trilogy of plays he named The Norman Conquests, a brilliantly clever affair which, in an ideal world, needs to be seen on three successive evenings, in order to appreciate the playwright's skill and inventiveness. Nonetheless, each play of the trilogy stands up perfectly well in its own right, as was displayed recently by Wymondham Players' delightful rendering of Part II of the trilogy, Table Manners. Director David Atkinson is to be congratulated on assembling a uniformly excellent cast, and drilling them into a comic routine which left the audience scarcely any time to draw breath in an evening packed with laughter. The six-strong cast, as a team, worked like a dream. Tabi Paternoster was the spinster sister of the family, secretly hoping for, yet doubtless ever despairing of, breaking her duck with the seemingly feckless brother-in-law, Norman, a splendidly judged performance by Martin Drummond who knew more than he was letting on, even to his trusting, but dizzy, wife, Ruth, played spot on form as ever by Amanda Oelrichs. There was also a touchingly delightful performance by Jimpy Casson of Annie's would-be suitor, Tom, the veterinary surgeon who seemed, on balance, more at home with the animal kingdom than the human one. At the core of the action, however, motivating most of the action and generally making life difficult for everyone else, were the visiting relatives, sister-in-law and brother Sarah and Reg, superbly played by Heather and Alan Carpenter, pulling in opposite directions throughout, and generally confounding anything that could be called progress, let alone peace and quiet. Sarah's insistence that sittings at the table for Sunday dinner should be 'comme il faut' (man and woman alternatively) ended up after protracted argument and experiment with three blokes and three girls sitting together, a hilariously high spot in the action. When Wymondham Players and good material collide, there is the recipe for a successful and entertaining evening, leaving audiences delighted and immensely satisfied. This production was no exception. David Paternoster's setting was, as usual, immaculate, and the whole cast and production team assured all concerned of an evening to remember. David Hare