'Spirit Level' is a situation comedy from the pen of Pam Valentine, and centres around the ghosts of fiction writer Jack Cameron and his wife, who, due to his atheism, were turned away from the Pearly Gates, and condemned to stay, and haunt, their own country residence. It is only when a young couple come to rent the property, do the Camerons have a change of heart. There is high farce, pathos, and everything in between during this 2 hour production (including interval), and the seven strong cast pull out all the stops to bring about a humourful and entertai9ning evening.
The opening was a little slow, and the pace needed to be picked up generally in order to wring every ounce of the comedy from this script; as we all know, the essence of comedy is in the timing, and sadly, in this regard, the performance needed to be moved up a gear or two, especially in the comedic interchanges with the Guardian Angel and the hilarious happenstances of Act 2 Scene 2. However, the pathos of the final scene was handled beautifully, and the cast gave us solid and fully-rounded characters throughout, making us sympathise and enjoy.
Taking the roles of the poltergeist spirits were Peter Hall as Jack Cameron and Erinna Delaney as his long-suffering wife Susie. Young couple with financial difficulties and a baby on the way were Simon (Alex Lafferty) and Felicity (Fiona Stewart), and the smaller cameo roles were taken by Tom Phillips, as the house letting agent Mark Webster, becoming more and more frightened by the friendly poltergeists who keep moving things in his presence; Maureen Schofield as the Lady Bracknell-esque mother of Felicity, Marcia Bradshaw, who still wears black despite her husband passing away three years' ago; and a most un-guardian angel-like Guardian Angel Patricia Ashurst.
The set was impressive, and the lighting design trying hard to create the different times of day and lights from outside and interior. Costuming was lovely and worked superbly, and sound levels were perfect. The seven high-spirited (a-hem!) cast worked excellently together and a very entertaining evening was had by all!
Reviewer - Matthew Dougall
on - 30.6.23
on - 30.6.23
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