 by H E Bates 7th - 10th May 2009 To enlarge thumbnail pictures, please click them.
Grange Players The Grange Playhouse This is the bucolic romp straight from the telly. Larger-than-life characters are at its heart, with a lascivious Pop Larkin somehow staying sober against his better judgment and Ma Larkin urging her eldest daughter ever onward in her romance with the visiting taxman. Graham Smith is a Pop with a laugh like the late Sid James and the economic morals of Del Boy. Stephanie Quance is an ever-extrovert Ma, quick to condone his lascivious lapses. Between them, they pilot the plot through some desperate waters to hide the taxman from his boss.
Tomos Frater is the stuttering young man from the Inland Revenue who instantly falls prey to the pert and predatory Mariette and scores a deserved laugh when his first sip of a Pa Larkin cocktail produces a sudden soprano choke. He is invited to stay with the six-strong Larkin family and immediately finds himself seated for a meal at a table where a surprising seventh chair already awaits him. Hannah Chmielewska is a delightful Mariette, clearly more naughty - with one eye on the taxman and the other on the bluebell wood - than she appears. There is sound support from the rest of the large company - and an excellent tree trunk, standing in an upstage corner, is a tribute to the backstage team. Rosemary Manjunath’s production continues to Saturday. Verdict **** John Slim, Birmingham Evening Mail
WALSALL OBSERVER The Grange Players Grange Playhouse, Walsall The switch of H. E. Bates’ charming story from television to the stage is beautifully handled by a talented cast in this enjoyable production at The Grange. Tickets have been eagerly snapped up, enthusiasm no doubt fuelled by memories of what people saw ‘on the box’, and no-one will be disappointed. From start to finish the play oozes humour, and a well constructed set adequately represents the Larkin household in the countryside of southern England. Graham Smith is a hoot as the Beano-reading Pop Larkin. Quite a comic! He’s made a fortune selling scrap without paying income tax, so the arrival of young Inland Revenue officer, Cedric Charlton, really ignites the action. Tomas Frater plays the inspector perfectly. A touch nervous as Pop ignores his request to fill in the appropriate forms and invites him to dinner, then startled by a very different invitation from sexy daughter Mariette who escorts the naive visitor to Bluebell Wood. Hannah Chmielewska is totally convincing as the temptress, Mariette, while Stephanie Quance makes a wonderful Ma Larkin. Her range of expressions are a delight, especially when she encourages her carefree husband to occasionally stray....his clinches with Miss Pilchester (Rachel Garratt) are hilarious. Splendidly directed by Rosemary Manjunath and produced by Robert Onions, the play runs to Saturday night, May 16. As Pop might say: “It’s perfick”. Paul Marston |
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