Review: Heart-warming and funny show a hit with audience

A scene from Two Houses on at Aubyn Live Theatre.

Two Houses (the show might go on)

Aubyn Live Theatre

Showing until July 29

Tickets from Eventfinda

Reviewed by Alan Powdrell

Written by local playwright Lizzie Robertshaw, Two Houses is described by director Sarah Rogers as a ‘love poem to community theatre’ and affection for local theatre shines through in this lively show.

Two theatres in the small town of Barrington Bay lose their council funding and face closure unless they amalgamate and mount a joint production, Romeo and Juliet, the Space Rock Opera.

The ensuing conflicts between the pretentious, high-brow Barrington Dramatics and the decidedly low-brow Seaside Minstrels and their respective creative directors are the source of much of the comedy that follows.

All the challenges faced by small, cash-strapped community theatres are presented with great glee and energy.

The programme decided by committee, the often agonising auditions, costume struggles, early rehearsals, personality clashes and cast romances, all embellished but recognisably real.

The play is the epitome of “art imitating life’' and it becomes difficult to separate what is intentional and what perhaps is an element of the production itself.

Is the slow cueing a factor of the characters’ inexperience or the actors’, and the slow set changes that sometimes impede the play’s momentum also an indication of the playwright’s understanding of the challenges of small theatres and their cramped backstage spaces?

The play has comedic highlights which were enjoyed by the audience on this special charity evening. The auditions were great fun and clearly relished by the ensemble, with their over-the-top characters played with great gusto.

The two theatre stalwarts who terrorise the backstage with their withering commentaries on the weaknesses and frailties of cast and production, played with relish by Kathy Wolstenholme and Anne Jamieson, also earned a strong audience response.

The two young lovers, Ben and Alice, played by Jack Garvey and Hannah Stoud, have charming moments and their struggles to assert their independence from their dominating parents provides an element of suspense as we hope for a happy ending.

Kim Wright and Matt Aplin have key roles as the creative directors of their respective theatres and clearly relish their characters. Wright as Sandy, mother of Ben, particularly stands out with her moments of rage and frustration as she tries to save a shambolic dress rehearsal and her hurt as her son decides to follow his own dream.

Two Houses, in conclusion, works both as a play and as a production. It parodies local theatre but with sympathy and understanding. If you are an enthusiast for community theatre you will enjoy this heart-warming comedic tribute to the artistic ambitions and dreams of often quite ordinary people.