Life & Beth received rave reviews playing to Packed Houses
The Noda North West Review
This play is, in effect a modern day ‘ghost story’ and is a humane, funny play about the inevitability of death and the continuity of life. Beth is just about coming to terms with the loss of her husband of 33 years, Gordon when, just 6 weeks after the funeral it is Christmas! This brings a drunken sister-in-law, a son hiding his grief in forced heartiness, his totally catatonic girl-friend and an enthusiastic vicar – with a poor memory for names and a lost cat! Just as Beth is thinking things could not get much worse she is subjected to a ‘visitation’ from her departed husband.
The single open set was superb, with some good lighting effects and an efficient and effective crew – who multi-tasked very well as ‘voices off’! Costumes were good and everyone ‘looked the part’
There were some excellent characterisations – with plenty of light and shade in the voices – occasionally perhaps a little too much shade for some of the members of the audience (as the lady behind me repeated some of the lines to her husband) but that was more than compensated by some real laugh out loud moments in the course of the evening.
In view of the subject matter being portrayed there were some uncomfortable and I am sure scripted pauses on stage – as well as some umm’s and err’s again probably scripted but on a couple of such occasions I did feel that they were the cause of a drop in pace – but feel perhaps that was more the script than the cast.
Overall it was a most entertaining and enjoyable evening – and the capacity audience obviously enjoyed and appreciated the production. Very many thanks everyone connected with this production on another most enjoyable and entertaining evening.
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