ANNUAL CRITICS AWARDS 2002
We poor souls in desperate need of a regular dramatic fix, rely on the theatrical sweat of our various amateur societies to provide us with some stimulating fare. And in a year which has seen many societies struggle, sweat has certainly been the operative word. I cannot speak for Dunstable but, in Luton, the long established Wheatsheaf Players are unlikely to survive and The Presbyn Players, for the first time in my long memory, were unable to fulfil their autumn date. And if, musically, LAODS have recently given us a magnificent Carousel and St Andrews Players a pleasing Annie we should not forget that both of these major societies have, within the last twelve months, cancelled shows due to internal difficulties. So local amateur theatre, in a town currently devoid of any serious professional equivalent, perilously survives rather than gloriously thrives.
We should therefore take some comfort from the fact that Dunstable Rep, except for the odd aberration, ACT Company with a highly successful tour, and Luton’s Griffin Players at the Library, continue to set high standards on the straight theatre stage. Add in new company Bigredfunbus and a welcome return to form from Dunstable Operatic and, even as one draws a welcome end of year veil over a long list of mediocrity, there was clearly much to enjoy. The fun comes in deciding which of the 32 productions and, for the statistically minded, 883 individual performances get my dubious 2002 plaudits.
It will probably come as no surprise that LAODS Carousel took an early lead and resolutely stayed there throughout the year. Their wonderful Stevenage presentation emphatically gets my vote as BEST PRODUCTION. Director PETER DAVIES pulled out any number of fine singing and acting performances from both principals and chorus and he also gets my vote as BEST DIRECTOR. Hello Dolly (DAOS), Annie (St Andrews) and Oliver (Luton Light) also had much to recommend them but, musically, only West Side Story (CSYMT) ran Carousel even close. Stuart Farrar’s splendid staging of ‘Gee Office Krupke’ wins his young company my BEST CHOREOGRAPHY award.
If Carousel edged out a number of accomplished straight productions for Best Production it nevertheless had a few of them snapping at its feet. Dunstable Rep gave us an imaginative Midsummer Night’s Dream and a gripping Popcorn, Griffins a one woman tour de force in Shirley Valentine, and, especially, Bigredfunbus with a classy ‘The Vortex’. But the play which scored heaviest on my appreciation barometer was ALAN CLARKE’S stunning presentation of Much Ado About Nothing for ACT Company. Mr Clarke wins my RUNNER UP BEST PRODUCTION and RUNNER UP BEST DIRECTOR awards and my overall award for BEST STAGING.
On the individual male acting front a number of performers made their mark. Among the best were Greg Varney(Iolanthe – Putteridge G & S), Justin Doherty (Much Ado About Nothing-ACT), Dale Stacey (West Side Story-CSYMT), Mick Wilson, Michael Niles and Robert Milner (Carousel-LAODS), Chris Lavin(Guys and Dolls-DAOS), Alan Purton (Oliver-Luton Light) and Dave Jenkins(Darling Mr London-St Christophers). But, for me, the best three male performances in 2002 came from Elliott Lawrence (The Vortex-BRFB), Michael Niles (HMS Pinafore-LAODS), and Peter Brown (Popcorn-Dunstable Rep) and for his mesmerising portrayal of serial killer Wayne in Dunstable Rep’s Popcorn PETER BROWN gets my BEST ACTOR award with Mr Lawrence and Mr Niles the worthy runners up.
If choosing the best actor was difficult, making a pitch for best actress was an almost impossible task. Jackie Howe, Stephanie Seal and Jill Gibson(Carousel –LAODS), all figure for exceptional performances in this one musical and Dunstable Rep turned out so many first class female performances they warrant reporting to the monopolies commission. Liz Caswell (Dream/Seasons Greetings), Annalise Carter (Dream/Popcorn) and Gay Hoyle (A Passionate Woman), were amongst the best of some very serious acting performances at the Little Theatre. Add in Rachel McDermott (Annie-St Andrews), Amanda Lindsay (Guys and Dolls-DAOS) Denise Bryson (Outside Edge-Griffins), Eileen Kirby (Shirley Valentine-Griffins), and Annalise Carter and Angela Goss (The Vortex-BRFB), and sifting out the one, very special, performance almost defies me. In the end I plumped for that two hour solo tour de force last summer, so EILEEN KIRBY gets my BEST ACTRESS award for Willy Russell’s Liverpool housewife with Angela Goss and thirteen year old Rachel McDermott just shading everybody else for the runners up spot.
My final reflections on a year which saw a personal high with the staging of my own play The Lime Kilns, and an equally personal low with the deaths of local thespian stalwarts Wheatsheaf’s Margery Whiteley and Presbyn’s Marion Parrish, would be for Phoenix and St Christopher’s to return to the reviewing fold and for all societies, especially musical ones, to take on board the lighting skills of local wizard DAVID HOUGHTON. He doesn’t always please but his beautifully lit balcony scene in West Side Story (CSYMT), his kitchen lighting for Shirley Valentine (Griffins), and his kaleidoscopic magic in Copacabana (CSYMT) earn him, once again, my personal award for THEATRICAL ACHIEVEMENT. If ever Mr we all get our wish for proper professional venues in our towns, I cannot think of a better man to light them.
Roy Hall