Season's Greetings

The Bury Players' last production was 'Season's Greetings' by Alan Ayckbourn. You can read a review and see some pictures from the play below.

Review of Season's Greetings by Josie Harrison from the National Operatic and Dramatic Association (NODA)

The scene changes throughout were very well accomplished by two very discreet ladies sitting quietly beside the stage, the lighting was effective, the props were excellent and the costumes ensured the authenticity of the period. Incidental music was appropriate to the festive season and therefore, technically a good show. This is a very amusing play causing the audience to chuckle but also to compare this particular Christmas with their own experiences at that time of year. We all know family and friends who descend on each other to celebrate but get temperamental and argumentative as the busy few days drag on. All the nine cast members were totally involved in the part they were playing, the set was magnificent and the costumes highly appropriate in every respect.

John Collis as Uncle Harvey was outstanding showing a powerful personality used to getting his own way. On the whole a rather grumpy, selfish person convinced that force, with weapons if necessary, was the answer to the present day problem. His nephew Neville, Simon Weston, is head of the household. He is very self absorbed, never actually listening to his wife Belinda, treating her with contempt until he thought he might have lost her. She was played with great enthusiasm and conviction by Lin Simmonds, giving a delightful performance especially on meeting her sister’s friend Clive, splendidly played by Robert Ingram, to whom she took a great shine. When he returned her interest they cause great hilarity when they tried to cement their relationship under the Christmas tree causing a wrapped mechanical toy to activate waking the entire household in the process. The transformation in him during the course of the play was very clever. Belinda’s sister Rachel, (Sharon Pincott) was a ‘mess’!! She couldn’t quite decide what she wanted out of life or who for that matter and had the most awful crying fits at regular intervals. Quite a performance!! Another two guests for the Christmas break were Bernard and Phyllis, Neville’s sister (Alan Jones and Tina Owen) he as a failure in his professional life who bored everyone every year with his dreadful puppet shows and she with a major drink problem, somewhat juvenile in her approach to life who became the self appointed cook for the week-end with rather disastrous results. The final pair were certainly not in the holiday mood. Pattie (Stella Russell), very pregnant with three children already, was fed to the teeth with her husband’s total lack of interest in his family. He (Rhodri Moore) somehow managed to move through life as if this large group of youngsters were nothing to do with him despite being got at by his very disgruntled wife. They all gave good performances but the dialogue was a little slow at times with perhaps too many long pauses. Having said that Ayckbourn plays are very wordy and rather fragmented making them difficult to handle. His writing is complex, with much interaction of speech making a good pace difficult and Bury did a good job and the audience obviously enjoyed their evening.