'Start Square' was directed by Steff Hudson, who has done a great job getting her vision for the play on the stage. Her flair, enthusiasm and expertise were notable throughout the show. Additionally, she has utilised the stage to its full potential. Sharon Colpman also wrote the play, and the dialogue flowed really well and built up a lot of suspense and intrigue as the story developed. I particularly liked how snippets of information were mentioned and kept the audience guessing to what had happened in Arthur’s past.
John Jones played the male principal role of Arthur Watts, whilst Frances Broudie-Oldridge played the female principal role of Dorothy Fry. Together, they created a good sense of chemistry and the dynamics of their characters worked incredibly well. Jones and Broudie-Oldridge were supported by a great ensemble of actors including Jade Sarah Cunningham (Peter), Catherine Fahy (Jean Watts), Lew Freeburn (Young Arthur) and Em J Carter (Sally/Mary Wise). Special mention to Em J Carter, who demonstrated great versatility by playing two very different characters.
All the acting of the characters was of a good standard and the actors in the cast suited their given roles. The actors added more depth, believablity and layers to their characters. Having such a small cast in the plot allowed for their characters to be developed and the narractive of the story fully explored. The main running theme was relationships between all the characters. However, there were also other themes such as loneliness, companionship, domestic violence, trauma, grief and conflict.
The story of 'Start Square' opened with Arthur doing some gardening and talking to himself about general things. Once he went inside his cottage and he starting talking to his parrot, Peter, his only source of company. Having lost his wife and child in the past, he was incredibly lonely and kept seeing what was going on in the village hall to keep him occupied. He was contemplating on whether or not to approach one of the ladies at the village hall, just to have a conservation with him and hopefully find a lady for companionship over time. Finally, he did pluck up the courage to go over and meet one of the ladies at the village hall. However, his initial encounter didn’t go to plan, as he had hoped. Undeterred, he decided to meet one of the other ladies, Dorothy Fry, by helping her charge the battery on her car as it has broken down. Arthur and Dorothy soon start meeting up with each other, where a bond started to develop between them. However, Dorothy had an ulterior motive in wanting to get to know Arthur.
One of the highlights of the piece was Peter, the parrot, who played a significant role in heightening the intrigue to the story. Jade Sarah Cunningham did a great job being the voice of Peter. Well done to Davy Jones and Paul Jamieson for the animatronics of Peter, the parrot. It was a great concept having Peter as it was great visually too.
The set design by Michelle Etherington was really good, very decorative and gave the audience insight into Arthur’s home. The set was constructed by Michelle Etherington, Wayne Stuart-Cole and Anne Pritchard. The props and the costumes of the characters were good. The lighting and sound was done by Rachel Statham. There were great contrasts of lightness and darkness, which built up the tension as the story progressed. Melanie Halsall applied all the make-up on the characters in the play. The music by Jack Myers was extremely soothing to hear and kept the audience occupied for the swift stage transitions.
Overall, I would highly recommend going to see 'Start Square'; there was a good, solid story acted out incredibly well by a talented cast. The direction and writing was excellent and told an interesting story with a good twist in the climax. 'Start Square' had everything you would expect in a good play such as tension, conflict, drama, emotion and vengeance.
Reviewer - Mark Cooper
on - 1/2/20
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