A Critique:
See How They Run
Keep Calm and
Carry On
by Cynthia Guttormson
It was
a chilly Sunday afternoon on November 20 when I raced into the Vic Juba Theatre
in Lloydminster, Alberta. I was
there to see a play titled See How They
Run by Phillip King. I entered
the theatre through the top right door and I could already feel excitement in
the air. I found a few of my
friends after searching for my row and we settled into what was one of the
funniest things I have seen in a while.
Wendy Collins directed the play and the main characters included Gordon
Stanley as Reverend Lionel Toop, Amanda Block as Penelope Toop, and Matt Newman
as Corporal Clive Winton. The
premise of the play is your basic Who’s Who game of mistaken identities. It deals with a vicarage, drunken
woman, a make believe scandal and a dangerous Russian spy. To say the least, it was a whirlwind
adventure.
The
play is set in England during 1944.
One would think that because of the continent and time difference, the
effect of the play may not be as memorable to an audience of this day and
age. This is where the play’s
charm comes from though, from the fact that the play is a period piece and
people seem to have a soft spot for period pieces, especially if they are
hilarious. The plot kept you
guessing about whether or not anyone would figure out the vicar’s true
identity, or when someone would burst out of the clock closet almost ruining
the whole ploy.
The
portrayals of all of the characters were rather endearing, Stephanie Frelone
(Ida) being a real standout. She
was the only actor whose voice was easily distinguishable from all the rest and
her accent was quite funny. There
were a few times where you couldn’t a few words or couldn’t understand the
conversation because there was so much going on. That was the point though, when the Corporal (Newman) and
Penelope (Amanda) were both trying to explain what had actually happened that
evening. I don’t think there was
ever a moment when the actors were out of character. I even imagine them backstage, Miss Skillon (Brandi Rolfe)
being a scandalized drunk or The Intruder/ Russian Spy (Denis Foss) holding the
tech crew at gunpoint. They just
seemed like those kinds of characters: overwhelming.
The
set was an integral part of the play.
Nearly every single piece presented was used as a prop and a few more
than others, such as the chest, the closet, and the couch. The pieces did have the feel of the
forties or at least what I imagine the forties felt like. The only noticeable time they used
lighting in the play was during the second act when everything on the stage was
dark expect of a few blue lights.
This signified that it was nighttime. The costumes varied from the smart black suit of the vicar,
which multiple actors wore, Miss Skillion dress and crazy stockings and then
Penelope’s fashion forward trousers. There were a few sound effects that added to the play such as
Penelope’s horrible singing during the beginning of the play and the church
bell that Ida rings near the end.
I
have to say that I think we were a particularly great audience. There was never a point where I felt
that if someone had been holding a sign telling us when to laugh, we wouldn’t
have. There were ah-ha moments
when I heard people around me finally understanding something and then there
were moments where you couldn’t stop yourself from laughing. During the twenty-minute intermission,
I caught snippets of conversations where people were trying to figure out how
it would end. So, the audience
seemed very pleased and their theatre appetites whetted. My final thought of this play is that I
truly enjoyed it. I wasn’t sure
what I was getting myself into, but I was pleasantly surprised. Oh, and they were right in their
program, my ‘tummy muscles’ definitely had a workout.
