The first play of 2013 from the TOADS Theatre Company, Torquay, offers a time travel story that makes you wonder how healthy it is to look back on what you perceive to be happier times. ‘Time Was’ by Hugh Leonard, presents a world where you can think back on fond memories and summon them up into the present. Directed by Alan Tanner, this madness ran from Saturday 12 to Saturday 19 January 2013.

The story was set in a near future Ireland, where people have been going missing whilst others have been arriving. There is something wonderfully dark about the idea of how a government would cope with this kind of time travel. They would have to find somewhere to put the folk who have been displaced from their own time. The idea that they would be segregated from society to prevent alarm from spreading makes sense. But the arrival of time traveller refugee camps would lead to whispering of troubles that would cause unrest – so more people would cling to thoughts of how better things were in the old days – leading to more people being brought forward from the past.

The population would grow as people exist both now having aged normally and also as their younger selves from the past. Confusion is added to the mix as PJ, played by Nigel Howells, is able to summon up characters from films as well as people he knew as a child.

Although these seem like big ideas, they are presented in the context of a pair of unhappy marriages, as PJ argues with his wife Ellie, played by Susie Powell, as they spend the evening with their friends John and Bea, played by Paul Hedge and Mary Howells. The production opens with the arguments that could be part of any living room stage comedy, but as the time travel starts, so the laughs are more interesting.

Stephanie Austin and Alan Hargreaves both brought a lot of fun to the production as youngsters Tish and Harry. As two of the characters thrown through time, they saw themselves as the ages they were in the past, whilst the audience saw them as they would be if they’d aged in the intervening years. With the dress, mannerisms and attitudes of their younger selves both lifted the first half before the second half turned the play into the story of a house under siege, the highlight being Paul Hedge’s John having a wonderful breakdown after an altercation with an Arab.

I cannot say that everything came together perfectly, but I have a lot of time for the script and the audience bubbled along nicely in what was a gentle comedy. There was a bit of sauce and the cast were safe hands to deliver the gags but for me the themes were the triumph of the play. They effectively sold me the world they were living in, and I left the theatre thinking about the fond memories you have of people you once knew. Perhaps seeing them again is a mistake and the important thing is to live in the present, rather than trying to summon up happier times. Thoughtful comedy.

Last review from the TOADS Theatre Company: Dangerous Obsession

The season at the Little Theatre, Torquay continues this week with a thriller from the TOADS Theatre Company. Written by N. J. Crisp, ‘Dangerous Obsession’ is directed by Anna Reynolds and continues until Saturday 20 October 2012.

The Jolly Lion cannot help but notice that there is something in the air this month locally, as this is the second short small cast thriller in a week after enjoying ‘Revenge‘ at the Palace just a few nights ago. This is a sound approach to dark and wet autumn evenings, knowing that an experienced cast can build the kind of pace that gets the audience safely out of the building by 9.30pm.

The production opens in the conservatory of a house in the Home Counties, where Ceni Wyatt enters as Sally Driscoll, having been sunbathing in her garden. She is soon taken by surprise by a visitor she doesn’t recognise, John Barrett, played by Paul ffitch. The early scenes are beautifully awkward as he explains who he is and how they once met at a conference. The crowd pleasing mention of this meeting being in Torquay brought enough tittering from a delighted audience to ensure we were fully engaged nice and early. It is a simple shorthand that allows us to picture the meeting more vividly because we feel like we know exactly where they were and what they were doing.

As drinks are poured and the shared history unfolds, the awkwardness would fall away and Wyatt’s Sally becomes quite enchanting as she settles into her role as hostess to a possible business interest for her husband. ffitch creates a character in John that is sinister by just being a little socially awkward. The slow considered drinking, perched on the edge of the settee, before settling back and avoiding eye contact, staring out into the audience. There is something not quite right about him, and the fun is in watching him do things that Sally cannot see. Although the darker behaviour is clearly flagged up, the performances allow you to put them on one side and enjoy the conversation as the drunk pieces together a forgotten night and the friendships she made.

From the programme biographies it is clear that Andrew Prowse stepped in at the eleventh hour to play Mark, with just eighteen days to take on the role. Had the note not been there I might never have known, as he slots perfectly into the mix, bringing great humour in his efforts to persuade his wife to get rid of their visitor. As he drinks more, he becomes less subtle, with events building to a nice cliffhanger at an early interval.

Again looking to avoid spoilers, the second half has plenty of revelations for the fan of a thriller, with gunshots, sleaze and plenty of crying and a chance for the audience to feel properly uncomfortable by what they are seeing. It’s quite a shouty second act, but in a sense it needs to be. It is a good show, with one of the better scripts the Little Theatre has seen in many months. The cast slot perfectly together and present interesting characters, a return to form for the TOADS.

Last review from the Little Theatre: Cards on the Table