Three times the fun

Compton Players Entertainment Triple Bill: Bill and Bob, Green Favours and Pyramus and Thisbe, at the Coronation Hall, Compton, on Tuesday April 29, Wednesday, April 30, Friday, May 2 and Saturday, May3

Compton Players chose three very diverse one act plays for their Spring production. The first, Bill and Bob, written and directed by H. Connolly, a member of the Players, was a study of two couples' relationships.

Well written, funny and dramatic, it explored complex themes within the couples lives. Art reflects life they say, and sometimes the dialogue was explicit, but the actors equipped themselves well and were well rehearsed. Bob (Mike Long), Bill (Dave Hawkins), Maureen (Mary Warrington), Jane (Tracey Pearce) and H. Connolly are to be congratulated on an engaging and effective piece of original theatre.

The second act brought us Green Favours by Frank Vickery, a two-hander, with Mark Bailey and Brenda Prior as Tom and Valerie, brought together in the unlikely setting of an allotment garden shed. Tom has persuaded the gardening club to accept Valerie as its first female member. Tom has left his wife, however, and has more than gardening on his mind. In the charged atmosphere of a thunderstorm, complete with a rain lashed window, the characters work through their mutual attraction to a 'what-the-hell' final clinch. With a super set and effects, the actors portrayed their roles well under the direction of Tracey Pearce.

In total contrast, the final play was Pyramus and Thisbe, an extract from A Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare. It was a delightful costumed piece, directed by Eric Saxton, in which The Court were entertained by the players in a highly humorous version of Pyramus and Thisbe. The Court was Ian Hickling and Enid Farr as a commanding Theseus and Hippolyta and Paul Shave as a Philostrate. The players were Eric Saxton as the rustic Prologue, Nick Roberts as the hammy Pyramus, Jasmine Gartshore as Thisbe. Faye McGeehin as Wall, Peter Whitworth as Moonshine and Michael Sheperia as Lion.

The evening lived up to the title of an Entertainment Triple Bill, and all three plays were well received by the Compton audience.

TREVOR DOBSON