REVIEWS REVIEWS
The evening's entertainment is about seats. After the Front of House Manager Madaleine had found seats for us the cast proceeded to have conversations centred on seats set against a green lawn. Oxford Stage Company brought their players to York to perform this remarkable play called Home, written by David Storey and directed by Sean Holmes. Watching the play will show what a truly great play this is and let you see this superb cast.
Harry seats himself and proceeds to fiddle with his appearance, brushing himself down, looking into space. He is joined by Jack, dressed dapperly in blue blazer, trilby and carrying a cane. The two men get into conversation which has its amusing undertones as it tries to be moral and correct. Then you begin to notice things about the two men that do not quite fit the conversation, such as the ties they are wearing are at odds with what they are saying. The two men, played by David Calder as Harry and Christopher Godwin as Jack, keep the audience hanging on their every word as they talk, as many people do, of nothing of any significance, but it is the way it is delivered that keeps you hanging on every word. The two eventually decide that a walk would be of interest and leave their seats; their place is taken by Marjorie, a dowdy prim woman, and Kathleen who has trouble keeping the skirt of her dress down to a respectable level. Their conversation is juxtaposed to that of the men, but is about men and sex. Marjorie is played by Sandra Voe and Kathleen by Geraldine James, again they have the audience wondering what they will say next, but oddly it all hangs together to form an intriguing conversation. All seems fairly normal until Alfred played by David Hinton arrives and begins lifting the chairs in strong man attitudes. From here on in the play has to be viewed and savoured.
The audience were treated to remarkable performances from the main characters, for it was the writing that gave the actors the chance to give great performances and they took the chance to show how good they were at their job. Brilliant. © BA
“Home” is at York from the 27th to the 30th October, 2004 and then touring. This is a No Smoking theatre. Council car parking charge £2.60 from 7pm.
