Production: Becket

Company: Ewhurst Players

Venue: Ewhurst Village Hall

Date of Review: Saturday 17 November 2007

Introduction: Jean Anouilh’s Becket; ou l’honneur de Dieu (Becket; or the Honor of God) tells the troubled story of the relationship between Thomas à Becket and Henry Plantagenet, known to history as King Henry II of England. This relationship begins as a friendship and ends with the murder of Becket by Henry’s henchmen at the Cathedral of Canterbury. Anouilh sets Becket in England during the twelfth century, a time of political
and religious upheaval. In Anouilh’s interpretation of this history, the Saxon peasants have not yet acquiesced to their Norman conquerors, nor has the throne firmly established its supremacy over the Catholic Church.

Full marks for selecting a play as demanding and challenging as Becket for your winter production. The Tony Award winning play by Jean Anouilh is a tricky piece of work for any amateur group to stage and is seldom performed. The decision to stage much of the action effectively ‘in the round’ was excellent, although it will have obviously have impacted on the capacity of the hall. However, it did provide the audience with intimacy plus a sense of depth and church-like feel which all added to the enjoyment and atmosphere of the play.

Congratulations to set designer Leighton Davies and his team for the transformation of the hall into such an atmospheric set. I know from chatting to Mike that you considered staging the show in a local church which would have been interesting – but I think on balance the right decision was made, as you were able to create the atmosphere without the logistical difficulties that the church may have presented you.

Clearly the show demands two strong actors in both the title role and King Henry II and Peter Bradley and Roland Butcher respectively played the parts with a great degree of confidence and considerable acting ability. The sheer amount of dialogue to learn for these two roles was massive – and both actors had clearly worked hard in their respective portrayals – the diction and projection were at all times strong, and most importantly the pair worked very well together. Having only seen Roland perform in your “Panto Goes West” production a year ago – this was certainly a little different (!!) and his characterisation at all times was very strong showing the ruthlessness, fun, capricious and temper attributes to the King’s character.
Peter played the mellower part of Thomas – and it’s a character that goes through the most transitions during the play – from a personal friend of the King – to Chancellor and finally of course the Archbishop of Canterbury. Whilst at all times Peter’s acting was strong – there was probably room for demonstrating even stronger transition between each phase to have been more convincing.

There were plenty of strong supporting performances and good ensemble work. Mike Richardson, Barrie Heathcote, Dave Biggins and Bruce Dean played their respective parts of Archbishop of Canterbury, Gilbert Folliot, Bishop of York and Bishop of Oxford (and barons) well and worked well together. I enjoyed Jamie Boyes performance as one of the barons. Jay Cuthbert gave a confident portrayal of Gwendolen as did Jo Silock and Jane Biggins as the Queen and Queen Mother. There was nice humour between King Louis (George Yates) and the French Baron (Bruce Dean). Felix Cuthbert showed potential as Little Monk and Tom Collins (Brother William), John Cadman (Prince Henry) and Jerry Day (Pope) all handled their roles well.

The technical elements of the show contributed to the success of the show. The selection of the 11th and 12th century music was at just the right volume to provide impact without annoyance. The lighting was generally very good and atmospheric although I did feel there were too many snap blackouts and fading of the lighting would have provided a subtler and more effective solution.

A lot of effort had gone into the period costumes which all looked very good indeed so congratulations to your wardrobe team of Penny Morris and Cyn Earnest. A special mention as well to your properties team of Victoria Helstrip and Marian Heathcote for assembling a collection of very authentic props.
The programme included all the requisite information – cast biogs are always a bonus – although I appreciate costs of printing. Whilst not a requisite – if you mention that you are NODA members on your publicity material – future programmes can be considered for regional awards.

Finally of course, many congratulations to director Mike Fanya on delivering such an ambitious production to such high standards.

Thank you for your kind hospitality on the evening. I look forward to your next production, Jack and The Beanstalk in January.
Best Wishes for the festive period.

David Stewart

NODA Regional Representative
District 19, South East Region