Back to all articles

Adjudication- The Beginners Guide to Murdering Your Husband

---

Last Post: Thursday 13th July 2023

Appraised by Andrew Rawlinson GoDA. Production directed by Patrick Duffy. Cast: Dawn Rowe, Paul Higginbottom, Ben McCarthy, Laura Lane, Danielle Radcliffe Observation This isn’t a play that I have seen or read before, it was new to me. The play is presented as though it is an instructional video that the audience are watching being filmed. Maddy (played by Dawn Rowe) will present a variety of methods for disposing of an unwanted husband, aided by Jim (played by Paul Higginbottom), her real-life husband, and her faithful employees, playing a variety of characters throughout the production. But is she really trying to get rid of her husband? Is the video just a ruse to lull him into a false sense of security? The parallels with their real-life relationship give Jim plenty to worry about but, as the play reaches its climax, we realise that nothing is what it seems. Part comedy, part farce, part reflection on real life, part thriller, and part drama, this is written and designed to be a fast-paced, slick, journey with twists and turns that build to a stunning climax. Usually, I would read the script several times in advance of adjudicating, to try and understand what the author intends for the piece, but this wasn’t possible in this review, so my observations are based on watching the production as presented. With this in mind, I am unable to present a view based on author’s intent, but rather it is based solely on presentation as seen. Comedy is fundamentally difficult. Executed correctly, it elevates audience expectation to another level of entertainment, but when it doesn’t quite land, it can be painful for both the audience and performer. How many times do we hear comedians say, ‘I died on stage tonight’, and, as performers, we know what they mean. Each audience is different, and each performance is different, drawing energy from each other like some symbiotic organism. For comedy to work, the performers need to play it straight. It isn’t funny for them (the performers), it is their (the characters) lived experience – if they try to present it as ‘they are in on the joke’, it doesn’t work – the audience is watching what is happening to the characters in the play and finding it funny, because it is the lived experience of the performers in the play – it is real to them. Through this, the audience experience schadenfreude – the pleasure derived by someone from another person’s misfortune. All theatre requires an audience’s ‘suspension of disbelief’, but we must give them the foundation on which to suspend it – without it appearing ‘real’, it is very hard to achieve this. Comedy is often based on elements of: surprise, conflict, repetition, incongruity, ridiculousness, and plant and pay-off. This play used all of these at different elements in this production. The Staging of this play was very simple and, in my view, very effective – it felt like a blank canvas being painted into the different scenes by projections onto the blank walls. This worked very well, and I felt that the transitions between scenes was slick in this element, with the addition of the scene titles being projected, which gave an added bonus and ‘nod’ to the fact it was an instructional video being made. However, the use of projection did have it’s limitations in this setting – I suspect that in order to balance the strength of the projection with the strength/amount of stage lighting being used, the latter had to be sacrificed for the former, meaning that some of the scenes were quite dark, particularly from a facial point of view. Having dark scenes can create a couple of challenges for the production; it can mean that the performers aren’t seen, and when facial expression is integral, this can be missed. Further, when you are unable to see lips and mouths moving, it can sometimes make the recognition of which performer is speaking, difficult. Especially, and inexplicably, when two or more female performers are talking, as their voices can often fund a common pitch and tone, making distinction difficult, especially for an older audience. I felt that the scene changes could have been quicker, as momentum was lost between some of the scenes; we sacrificed pace and momentum, for costume and bulky set changes, which could have been overcome by ‘token gestures’ of costume and set. I suspect that the director felt that some of scene changes were a little lengthy, and that the brilliantly, and perfectly selected music and visuals would off-set the scene change length. This did help, but the cast had to work hard to get the audience back after the lag of the scene change. My advice would be to keep it simple, punchy, and take the audience along for the ride – don’t give them chance to step off and disengage. It’s hard for the cast to keep building them back up and pulling them in. The Costume was well considered and gave clear direction of character, whether a waitress, femme fatale or otherwise but, as mentioned above, this could have been much simpler and with ‘nods’ to character rather than a complete costume change for each character. I did, however, really enjoy the final scene, with the full black robes and blank face masks – very sinister, and hid the performers well, making it difficult to discern which character was which. The Sound was also very well considered by the director – the linking music and underscoring projected a sense of place and tone perfectly. I am a huge fan of music and sound, it sets the audience up for what is about to come, it can guide them, relieve them, build tension and celebration. Music evokes memories and can link scene with how you want an audience to feel – who can listen to the William Tell Overture without thinking of the Lone Ranger. Perhaps that just me, a person of a certain age, but you will appreciate the point. The Performers in this production were a strong ensemble, they came together as a team, and bounced off each other well – they obviously enjoyed being on stage together and had chemistry. This is important for an audience – confidence in the performers is, obviously, integral to how an audience feels from the opening moment – if confidence isn’t felt by the audience in the establishing moments of a production, it is hard won. The audience needs to relax and know they are in safe hands very, very quickly. Dawn established the opening of the play well, and I felt she understood the character/s she was going to deliver. I think that a clearer distinction between her ‘real’ character, that of the narrator of the video, and the characters she played in each of the scenes could have been bolder – I would have liked to have seen the sickly sweet, polished delivery of a tv presenter, mixed with a clearer depiction of the other characters played, perhaps more boring and mundane, but then building to the climax of the play. I really felt that this potential was there in Dawn’s performance, as she held the audience well, and they were receptive to, and felt comfortable in, her presence. Paul is obviously an entertainer at heart, he threw himself into the role; trying everything to make the audience laugh. What I would say is this – less is more. I felt at ease with this performer on stage, he was a safe pair of hands, and we could trust him and felt confident and comfortable in his presence. However, it is important to remember that we do not have to ‘mug’ each line, react to each stimulus, and pull facial expressions – I eventually felt that the ‘gurning’ was constant, and he teetered on the brink of going too far… Take one step back Paul, have confidence in your performance and script – you have tremendous presence, you don’t need to go over the top to deliver it. Ben, Laura, and Danielle completed this cast, and brought all of the other characters to life, from comedian, to waitress, to femme fatal et al, and they attacked each with characterisation, understanding to the plot, and helped drive the narrative and pace forward. Ben was at ease speaking with the audience as the comedian, and he made us have the joke, whether we wanted to or not. I enjoyed Ben’s performance as the doctor especially, but remember my earlier comments about ‘playing it for real’ – there were moments where it felt contrived (of course it is), and I’m thinking the trousers around the ankles bit. Play it for real, and forget it is funny. Laura was great in her scenes, and I think I am right in saying this was Laura’s first or second time on stage with the Rossendale players, and I’m looking forward to seeing you again – solid performance and great character interpretation. Similarly with Danielle, a great performance, particularly enjoyed your performance as the Femme Fatal, which demonstrated your range of performance, you embodied the character and change within character well, and to great impact. Well done. Overall, I enjoyed my evening with the Rossendale Players very much. The Director had a clear view as to what he wanted to create on stage and, in many areas, this was delivered well. I think some tighter control over how the performers maintained their characters, rather than allowing slippage into ‘pantomime’ and ‘gurning’ would have helped create a sense of realism, and supported the comedy delivery. A clearer distinction between ‘video presenter’ and ‘character’ would have helped delineate the difference between ‘real’ and ‘scene’ performance, and a slicker, and quicker, change between each scene would have kept pace and momentum going along, taking the audience on a clear journey without pitstops. I thought the cast worked well as a team, but I did feel uncomfortable in a couple of scenes, notably when Maddy put the Doctor’s hand physically down her top over her breast – this felt unnecessary for me, as it felt gratuitous. Similarly with the simulated sex scene, it felt unnecessarily intimate, and could have been played differently to greater comedy impact. Behind every great production, there is a great director – they have vision, are committed, and understand the genre they are directing. It is important to bring together the right team, have fun, and project that fun across the footlights. I certainly felt the fun come across, and I really enjoyed the final scenes, mixing rap(!) and a thriller-like ending. Well done. The production came together well, was well received by the audience, and I note a sold-out performance on the final night. Well done to director, cast, crew and Front of House, I can’t wait to return. Thank you for inviting me, it has been a long time since I last visiting the New Millennium Theatre, but I will be back soon. I hope the elderly gentleman who had the first aid incident has had a speedy recovery. Good luck with your coming productions and see you soon.