ANNUAL CRITICS AWARDS 2003
It is a funny old business turning out reviews for this paper. You write what you think is a balanced piece, and get torn to shreds for not dishing out universal praise. I reckon the problem I had in 2003 with Griffin’s laudable Noises Off and Luton Light’s imaginatively staged Carousel is that I committed the unpardonable sin of not penning the rave that some would have given themselves. Those sensitive flowers should remember that to say the Grand National is a horserace is a fact. To say it is exciting or boring, is an opinion.
The eager scribes, blind to affectionate barbs, never pour scorn when I sing a more pleasing theatrical tune. I am still waiting for someone to write in and say that, actually, Forbidden Planet, was a piece of noiseless crap or that Dunstable Rep’s Home was ineptly delivered dross, inducing an overwhelming desire to give up the will to live. But that sort of letter would take real courage.
In spite of the impression occasionally gleaned we did get some very good theatre in 2003. Dunstable Rep were in fine, if flawed, form with Salt of the Earth and Extremities, Griffins gave us that ambitious Noises Off, and both Godspell and Oliver Twist had much to recommend them. And a number, especially Crazy For You, South Pacific, and Little Shop of Horrors, served up individual performances of note.
But four productions stood head and shoulders above anything else I saw this year. If only one was near perfect the other three, Forbidden Planet, Herbal Bed, and Honk, had the energy and imagination that, united, make live theatre the ultimate pleasurable art. That one faultless production, rich in isolated characterisation and pervading despair, was Dunstable Rep’s HOME and this wins the company my BEST PRODUCTION and ROBIN HADCROFT my BEST DIRECTOR awards.
It was a right old scrap between the other three but for glorious musicianship and high octane staging my RUNNER UP BEST PRODUCTION goes to Griffin’s RETURN TO THE FORBIDDEN PLANET. St Andrews Honk and Dunstable Rep’s The Herbal Bed can take consolation in the fact that they have lost out to two exceptional productions. For her seamless, beautifully crafted HONK St Andrews director NICKI POPE, just edges out Tim Hayden (Forbidden Planet) and Alan Goss (Herbal Bed) for my RUNNER UP BEST DIRECTOR award.
In the individual stakes any number made their mark. Amongst the best male performances were David Bailey (Dunstable Rep - Home), Alistair Brown (Dunstable Rep - Home), Joe Butcher (Dunstable Rep – Barton), Paul Ramsey (Griffins – Forbidden Planet), Phil Baker (DAOS – South Pacific), Matthew Orr (St Andrews – Honk), Elliott Lawrence (St Andrews – Honk), Glyn Trefor-Jones (Dunstable Rep –The Herbal Bed), Andy Margerison (Dunstable Rep – The Herbal Bed), and Justin Doherty (ACT – Oliver Twist). It will come as no surprise to many that DAVID BAILEY (Home) gets my BEST ACTOR vote with ALISTAIR BROWN (Home) and MATTHEW ORR (Best Musical Performer -Honk) only a length or so behind.
In the fight for the best girl I was especially taken with Rona Cracknell (Dunstable Rep – Home), Paula Fraser (Putteridge – Pirates of Penzance), Sue Jones (Dunstable Rep – Salt of the Earth), Jo Mills (St Andrews – Crazy For You), Nina Hucklesby (Griffins – Noises Off), Janet McClurg (Dunstable Rep – Laying the Ghost), Amanda Lindsay (DAOS – South Pacific), Aimi Percival (Phoenix – Little Shop of Horrors), Liz Caswell (Dunstable Rep – The Herbal Bed) and Sarah Albert (Griffins – Snow White). LIZ CASWELL (The Herbal Bed) gets my emphatic tick for BEST ACTRESS with RONA CRACKNELL (Home) and NINA HUCKLESBY (Noises Off) marginally edging out the rest.
Picking out the best staging was a tricky one because I admired practically everything Dunstable Rep packaged, only Laying The Ghost fell into the truly ordinary category, and Godspell, Noises Off, Carousel, Honk and Oliver Twist all had much to recommend them. But for a breathtaking spaceship set, beautifully lit, my award for BEST STAGING goes to Griffins RETURN TO THE FORBIDDEN PLANET with Dunstable Rep’s THE HERBAL BED being a deserved runner up. The Griffin Players also get my BEST ENSEMBLE vote for the collective musicianship of Forbidden Planet and the dexterous team playing in Noises Off.
So that is just about it. For much of the year I was struggling to find any serious contenders to Home and then, like those London buses, any number came along at once. If one or two companies had a year they would rather forget, some had a 2003 well worth remembering. The guest reviewers waved their own particular flags for Presbyn Players (Lettice and Lovage) and Dunstable Summer School (Sunsets and Mornings), and I will always wave mine for those, such as Alan Clarke’s ACT Company and Stuart Farrar’s Colin Smith Youth Musical Theatre who, for differing reasons, survived a difficult year.
But at a time when only St Andrews and Griffins made any serious play for top theatrical dogs in Luton, that banner was being contemptuously hoisted by those folks up the road at the Rep. They started with a spellbinding Home, finished with a magnificent The Herbal Bed, and turned out much to admire in between. I therefore have no hesitation in giving the Dunstable Rep Little Theatre my personal DRAMATIC ACHIEVEMENT AWARD for 2003. If any sensitive, overlooked, soul feels the urge to put pen to paper, I would suggest they apply to them for tickets. Now that would be a letter really worth writing.
Roy Hall