Out Of Focus

Throwing together a bunch of desperate people in a church hall, who then proceed over the coming weeks to rehearse a pantomime, is the recipe for a 'slice-of-life' play with no great depth or gripping incident, but a cracking vehicle for a character-based ensemble comedy, and like so many comic plays "Out Of Focus" relies heavily on human tragedy to raise the laughs. The cast were constantly aware of this, and trod the fine line between tragedy and comedy with great skill.

From the moment the curtain opened the "beginners" of the play brought the story to life and commanded the audience's attention right from the start. Also noticeable was the chemistry between all the members of the cast, which constantly lifted the action, as to was the good projection.

Shirley Ellick, as Helen, rose to her part with ease. Sensibly, she let her character build so to begin with she was merely nasty, but by the end she was downright venomous, willing the audience to see her get her comeuppance which is always fun in parts such as hers. The nastiness she portrayed was expertly carried off whilst at the same time extracting great humour as a flirt. Particularly amusing was her sudden switch from David to Leonard in her attentions. Shirley also made us acutely aware of the loneliness that drives such people to bitterness.

As a completely contrasting character, Kathryn Clark as Evonne carried off the part of the hopelessly inadequate wife of the (unseen) ghastly overbearing vicar to perfection. She was perfect as the wife whose only fault in life was to have married the wrong man, and Kathryn extracted every ounce of both pathos and humour from the part and gave us a very vulnerable lady. She was also excellent when she was crying and again when she was drunk, both very difficult things to perfect. It is to the author's shame that he never gave the part a scene at the end when, after too much to drink, she could have broken down completely with the realisation as to how her husband Donal was making her. I think Kathryn would have carried this off beautifully.

Keli Cooper as Kath and Adrian Pancucci as Bob both gave a well-tuned portrayal of a marriage on the rocks. Keli was very adept as a woman who loves an argument just for the sake of an argument and was very clever in showing us the enjoyment she got from this. She also moved well, and I always felt she and Bob were really married! Adrian was superb as Bob and had great command on the stage, with his acting skills and projection. His movement and body language were terrific and he carried his part with great confidence. Especially noticeable was his expertise in timing a comedy line. As a newcomer to the group I would have no reservations were he to be cast in a leading role and the same can be said about his real-life sister, Katrina Pancucci who excelled as Sue, also giving a performance of great confidence and skill, moving around the stage with ease. She was also very capable with characterisation, making it all look so easy, which of course, it isn't.

As David, Brian Grey trotted around the stage quite happily and gave an interesting interpretation as the "nice guy" who in life is always trying not to offend anybody. He managed to bring out the warmth that type of person has. I did think however, that as a policeman he would stand straighter even when off duty, and once or twice I felt his hand-movements were a little over done.

Jon Langley as Wayne, one of life's losers, was particularly well rounded in his interpretation and strutted around the stage nicely. He was especially good in his scenes with Evonne and Linda, being at the same time funny and touching. I did feel though, that a little more macho panache was required and at times he came over as a little too cultured. Also of note was Tina Bathmaker as Linda who was great fun when she was vamping around, and nicely brought out her character's self-confidence. Another new asset to the Group!

Last but by no means least was Andrew Stevens as "Anorak" Leonard, the type of man whose sole mission in life is to bore everyone into a coma. He was hilarious. Andrew was particularly good at acting when he wasn't "acting", always making us want to watch what he was doing. Also, his clothes, specs and hair were highly amusing and well thought out. However, I was disappointed that his marvellous nerdy voice which began so well did seem to get lost later in the play.

John and Doreen McGuire did a terrific job in bringing out the best in the cast, and the groupings and movement were well oiled and they both ensured the production flowed with ease. I was struck during the play as to how everyone was acting al the time. The cast were constantly on the ball and were interacting as a team, and I never felt the characters were simply waiting for the next line. This is no mean achievement!

The pace was extremely slick, but I did feel sometimes that a little more pointing of some of the lines was required. Some laughs were lost because the cast didn't always time them right, and some opportunities were thrown away. Also, it's a shame that the actors talked through some of the laughs. An example of this was when the cat walked on; the rest of the cast talked through the laughs. It spoils both his entrance and the following dialogue. As a rule of thumb - if the audience laugh, shut up for a second, and come on long and loud with the next line.

Two other points. The finish to Act One was slightly marred by the loudness of the tape, and the cast needed to enunciate better and enter more into "pantomime mode" Also the last five minutes of the play needed to be tightened and to be built up to a frantic, loud, and big finish.

Finally to the star of the show - Ian Cooper. His set was excellent and completely conjured up church hall. What was particularly cunning was his inspiration in using the same colours as our own hall. This helped very well in drawing in the audience to the action on the stage.

An excellent production. Well done "The Players"!

Brian Evans