His long-suffering muffin baking wife is played by Sarah Graham who has the difficult task of keeping the comedy grounded and this she did well, even when she was referred to as the 'Muffin Ma'am', a clever reference to the nursery rhyme The Muffin Man.
Who do you call when there is no doctor around? The local veterinarian of course, well played by Rachel Keith who controls the window we peep through and it was her acting skill that kept her scenes moving at the right pace.
If you have a problem always turn to the 'village idiot' for solutions and Jack Garvey as Terry gave the best performance of the night. Sharp focus with excellent energy provided us with a lovable character helped along by his interaction with Bridie Thompson as the returning daughter who gave us the "big smoke jokes". It was pleasing to see the youthful energy was not left somewhere in Christchurch.
With no curtain being used, the setting is the first thing we see and set designer Stephanie Drew has done well to construct a cosy farmhouse living room. Lighting operator Nakita Hildreth kept to her marks with sound under expert guidance of Gautum Paul and Sheree Osborne, with a nice touch to have Peter Berry sing the opening and closing music.
While this story might appear to have a simple structure, setting followed by resolution, it is the underlying themes that bring acting complexity along with having to resist the urge to laugh at patently absurd moments, after all it is us, the audience that has this easy job.
The director and cast have worked hard to stay within the boundaries of the playwright's vision and keep this comedy from turning into a stereotypical farce and for this they are to be congratulated.
