LAYING THE GHOST

by Simon Williams
presented by The Red Rose Players
at St. Paul's Parish Hall, Scotforth, Lancaster on
29 August 2007

reviewed by Keith Walker

The play’s the thing!
Much as I appreciate the polish and sophistication of professional productions I also enjoy going back to the roots of sheer amateur dramatics. Sitting on a hard chair in a draughty church hall. Queuing up for a cup of tea in the interval, with a gentleman passing through the small audience with a plate of assorted biscuits, and the tea ladies rushing around just before the second act to collect in the cups and saucers before someone treads on one.

Production values are at best functional: a box set that looks pretty fragile and in danger of collapsing at any moment; doors that either won’t open or stay shut; very basic lighting that needs no lighting plot - either it’s on or off, etc. But who cares? The cast have a good time and so does the meagre audience and at the end of the evening everyone goes home happy.

This is why I so much enjoy the annual Red Rose Players productions. For six months of the year the Red Rose AODS works hard to put together its musical show. This year it's Funny Girl and I suspect that pre-audition rehearsals will have started already. But for a few weeks during the summer months a selected group of players put on a play in St Paul’s Parish Hall. They usually choose something specially designed for amdram: single set, small cast, not too many props, etc. and always a comedy. Well it’s meant to be fun for all!

This year’s production was Simon Williams’s Laying The Ghost. Margot Buchanan (Meril Bull) is an ex-actress spending her final period of “resting” in a retirement home along with her best friend, Freda (Shirley Bargh) - an ex-drama schoolteacher and professed psychic. Margot is trying to forget her 70th birthday (aren't we all?) but no one will let her.

Sadie Croft (Vanessa Whittle) is a young actress who has been sent to her by her ex-husband Sir Leo Buchanan (Geoff Houghton) for advice on how to play Juliet. Sir Leo, the director, is having an affair with Sadie.

Lady Buchanan (Eleanor Manning) Leo's current wife arrives to complicate matters. Leo follows unexpectedly and promptly drops down dead with a heart attack. But Leo’s ghost doesn’t go out with his body to the mortuary but hangs around unseen by all but Freda. She becomes a somewhat unwilling medium translating Leo’s communications to the others. Things get chaotic as you may well imagine.

It’s very reminiscent of Coward’s Blithe Spirit but none the worse for that. The laughs come thick and fast and the play moves at a good pace with enough twists and turns in the plot to keep the audience amused. Nice direction by Mo Elliot keeps the cast on their toes.

The cast without exception was excellent and it would be churlish to pick out individual performances though I did particularly enjoy Shirley Bargh’s batty psychic. (Actually most of the handful of psychics I know really are like that.)

It’s a pity these productions don’t attract a larger audience, as they certainly are a lot of fun for all concerned. Now Red Rose can get back to the serious stuff of Funny Girl, due at the Grand in March.

© Keith A Walker 2007