Norden Farm Centre for the Arts
8 June 2024
This year the venue for the AETF final was in Maidenhead and a fine, well-organised event it proved to be. The Norden Farm Centre for the Arts is a splendid location, with a rich vein of dynamic and varied performances in their programme of forthcoming events and we arrived a couple of days earlier to be entertained by a splendid Kora player, performing to a sell out audience. There were opportunities to explore the area before the main event and the area did not disappoint with fine visitor attractions like the close by model village of Bekonscot and some lovely walks in and around the area.
As with previous years all four regional winners at semi final stage performed on the one day, two in the afternoon and two in the evening. The Eastern region was represented by The Woodhouse Players with Peter Souter’s enigmatic play ‘Goldfish Girl’. This two hander concentrated on a relationship, developing a narrative that focused on Ally’s loss of memory, the result of a catastrophic embolism. The piece had aspects of the films ‘Memento’, ‘Groundhog Day’ and, much earlier, ‘The Seventh Veil’, as the visitor, Joe, was revealed to be Ally’s husband and, crucially, implicated in the event that brought on Ally’s emotional trauma. This was a taut well acted chamber piece, with minimal set and careful direction that handled the tension with a clear control of the inner dynamic of the situation. Another two hander ended the English Final, with the Western regional winners, Backtoback Theatre performing a new play by Tom Derrington called ‘Bounce (extract)’, which also concentrated upon a relationship, but, in this case it was not between the two characters on the stage. The clever angle here was that a mother was seeking to discover how her son had taken the decision to end his life, influenced by a charismatic stadium filling guru figure. The stage was minimally set, but the opening lighting provided a Matrix like stage setting for the influencer, Jesse Fontaine, to work his magic on us the audience. Sylvia, the mother occupied a more parochial empty stage that provided myriad locations, including the audience of one of Jesse’s performances. Interaction between the two characters was minimal, a halting Sylvia responding to the presenter’s questions within the audience of his show. The play contrasted the private insecurities of Sylvia with the public largesse of the messianic Jesse in full performance flow. Chrissie Derrington, as Sylvia , was awarded the Rex Walford award for exceptional creativity through her multi role characterisation, at times singlehandedly creating interactive conversations between a number of diverse characters. An unusual play that begged the question as to whether it was a finished piece, as the threatened confrontation between the two principle characters never happened, robbing the play of a completely satisfactory climax. Was this an extract of a play in progress?
The second play in the afternoon was the winners of the Northern region, Saltburn ’53 Drama Group, and here was another new play, ‘Federico’ by Susan Pierce, who also directed the piece. The opening full throated singing of Dona Viceta, Le Madre, indicated the artistic aspirations of this fine ensemble performance. This well researched treatise on the situation surrounding the death of Federico Garcia Lorca was beautifully conceived with richly coloured cloaks, capes and uniforms supporting the Spanish locale of 1936. It was redolent of Lorca’s own work ‘Blood Wedding’ or ‘House of Bernarda Alba’, with poetic sections accompanied by live acoustic music, stomping feet, wailing song, clapping hands and occasional dance. There was a real sense of theatre about the whole piece and, yes there was a sense of the duende that was the beating heart of Lorca’s own work. This was a creditable achievement, combining strong theatrical aspirations with a willing cast of twenty performers.
The opening the performance in the evening was the winner of the Central region, Total Arts Community Theatre with ‘The Real and Imagined History of the Elephant Man’ by Tom Wright. This company has won the English and the British Final a number of times in recent years, but would they pull it off again this year?
I have been impressed with the entries from TACT over the last two years and I fully agreed with their selection as winning entries for the English Finals of 2022 and 2023, ultimately both winning the subsequent British Finals. Well I believe that this year’s entry was their best and it totally deserved first place in this year’s final. A feature of their productions is the sensitive use of set and this year the use of trucked flats, jigsaw like plinth and moveable lights provided a myriad collection of locations that raised an array of options to help the director animate the space. Costumes were practical, richly coloured and textured to evoke the period setting. The acting was of a very impressive standard and one image stays with me now, three weeks later as I write this report, that of Stephen Fortune-Smith as the principle character, Joseph, hobbled forward, escaping the confines of the life imposed upon him, towards the audience and, as he did so, the hobble gradually subsided. the broken body grew to an upright and his facial expression subtly recomposed to an expression of wonder. This action occupied a brief few minutes of the play’s action but beautifully encapsulated the contrast between how the public perception of ‘the Elephant Man’ and the inner private perception of Joseph. A real theatrical coup. As I write this piece I am preparing to see this play again at the British Final in Perth, Scotland. I will report back.
The 2024 All England One Act Play Festival had been a fine success, not just because of the venue, which was most accommodating, nor just because of the companies who performed so well, but, adding to these factors, Paul Fowler did a splendid job of charting a course through the rigours of assessing these very different plays in such a coherent, sensible manner.
Alan Hayes
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