NODA Report
Woman In Mind: The Watlington Players
Director: Nicola Henry.
Watlington Players is a society very much on a roll in both the quality and diversity of their shows and this production added to that growing reputation.  The plot in brief, we witness Susan’s mental decline as she slips into a fantasy world after being knocked unconscious.  My initial thoughts on the set were why so dull and lacklustre?  But as the plot unfolded and the fantasy family came to life so did the set.  Subtle lighting changes throughout maintained this switch between fantasy and reality which helped underpin the clever plot and excellent acting.  Susan’s real family came across as a dull, boring and totally dysfunctional unit whereas her imaginary family were upbeat, fun loving but crucially loving and adoring of Susan.  The lynchpins between these two worlds were Susan and Bill the doctor.  Pace and projection were in a class of their own with some very skilful movement between the two worlds.  Performances from all cast members were a joy so it would be unfair to mention any individual in particular other than Jenny Lewis (Susan).  On stage for every second, the entire success of this play depends upon her performance, a tour-de-force responsibility delivered to stunning effect.

        Jim Farr.
        
        28th November 2007

  They say that every week of the year, someone, somewhere Is performing an Alan Ayckbourn play. Last week it was the turn of the Watlington Players with “Woman In Mind”.  The story tracks two days in the life of Susan, starting with her being knocked unconscious by a garden rake. When she comes round she is still married to boring vicar Gerald, still lives with his overbearing sister Muriel and still misses repressed son Rick. In addition she has created in her mind a new family featuring devoted husband Andy, supportive brother Tony and charming daughter Lucy.

The play follows Susan’s gradual mental collapse as she struggles to separate fact from fiction. Some of Ackybourn’s (so-called) comedies have left me wondering where the humour was but this one sparkled with laugh-out-loud lines most of which were delivered by Doctor Bill, played beautifully by the talented Richard Abel. Laconic Vic Tucker was splendid as Gerald and Elaine Johnson made a nice job of bullying Muriel. As son Rick, Liam Baker had little to do but did it just fine. As the “over the top” imaginary family, I enjoyed David Wagg’s doting husband routine and Kate Ayres brightens up any cast as she does any chorus. As daughter Lucy she was absolutely delightful. 

Tom Clarke was magnificent as usual as Susan’s brother Tony. It said in the programme notes that Jenny Lewis was returning to amateur theatre after some time off and in the lead role of Susan she did a fine job. There was a lot of dialogue and a few nervous pauses early on went largely unnoticed. One such pause included the loudest prompt I have ever heard but it was only one. Compliments to Nic Henry in her Watlington directorial debut. Most Watlington shows look ready for an audience on opening night which is far from the norm locally. I suspect last Wednesday’s performance will not be remembered as their best but I enjoyed it enormously.

        Stephen Hayter
        
        October 2007