Farce turns to frenzy in a hilarious night

Apr 10 2009 by Caroline Boxer, Strathearn Herald

WHAT a wealth of talent we have here in Strathearn. Over the last two weeks drama groups in Comrie and Braco have expertly entertained audiences with their spring productions.

And this week it was the turn of the Crieff players to tread the boards in their adopted home of the Academy Hall.

Their chosen play was the very funny comedy ‘First Things First’ by the recently deceased playwright Derek Benfield – and what an excellent choice it was.

With a story filled with all the usual hilarious situations one expects to find in comedy, this was an evening of laughs a-plenty.

Cleverly adapted so as to be set in Edinburgh, the drama takes place in the home of Pete (John Cummings) and Sarah (Lynne McClymont). The couple have been happily married for six months but this is not to last.

Sarah becomes suspicious of Pete when he pushes her to go out for the night. She decides to feign a broken ankle in an attempt to put paid to whatever he has planned.

As an added distraction she also invites her formidable mother Margot (Ann Morrison) round, with the pretence of bandaging her ankle but really to ask advice.

Pete eventually admits that he is meeting his old friend and best man, George (Paul Kelly), and Sarah and her mother, who is still suspicious of Pete, agree to go out.

George appears and after a few nervous drinks announces that Pete’s first wife Jessica (Shiona Chillas), was not killed in a climbing accident as they had previously assumed but is alive and well and about to arrive on the doorstep.

She quickly appears – and of course, so do Sarah and her mother and the subterfuge begins.

Add into the mix Jessica’s boyfriend Alain (Neil Combe), all the way from France, and the farce hits frenzy!

With a mountain of words, the parts in this play were complicated to the extreme but each of the players carried them off with great aplomb.

Newcomer John Cummings is a great addition to the group. He is extremely natural on stage, has brilliant timing and is a joy to watch. I am still comparing him to John Cleese in ‘A Fish Called Wanda’.

Lynne McClymont was strong in the role of Sarah, with some great facial expressions, and Shiona Chillas was perfect as her opposite number, playing the character with enough distance to keep the audience guessing as to what she was hiding.

Paul Kelly and Ann Morrison are both favourites on the Crieff stage. Paul certainly warmed to this fun part and Ann is always superb as the dominant female. Although just a cameo role, Neil Combe proved that a Brummy can do a French accent, adding the final twist to the plot.

Swapping jobs for this show, director Mike Owens, with his actor’s eye for detail, should be thrilled with the results.

Congratulations should also be extended to the back stage team for their excellent set, costumes and lighting and to the front of house team for the ingenious layout of the seats and welcoming atmosphere.

Now in its 10th year, Crieff Drama Group certainly continues to go from strength to strength.