Two Weddings and a Funeral: Nailsea Little Theatre

Tuesday 14th October 2008

This is a Crackerjack review of Two Weddings and a Funeral. Do you agree? Rate and review this event.

Crackerjack rating: 6 / 10.

With a shrewd eye on the box office, director Elaine Stewart borrowed part of the title of the highly successful 1994 film to cover her choice of three themed one act plays.

To take full advantage of the typical Jimmie Chinn gritty north country humour in A Respectable Funeral the dialogue between the three sisters, gathered after their mother's funeral, has to bounce around between them like a table tennis ball.

Ginny Watts, Pat Kelly and Jane Merryweather never quite achieved this crackling speed and it was not until Fred Kelly, as their estranged brother, appeared that the family relationships became completely believable.

In Who's Wedding Is It Anyway? Margaret Bower tells the tale of two snobbish sisters, Julie Lawrence and Bronya Manley, and their attempts to keep their widowed mother's wedding to an Italian restaurant owner completely within the family.

Their efforts were beautifully torpedoed by Shirley Gregory's down to earth mother and Vicki Hyde as her charlady.

Once again, however, this play did not bubble along at a good enough pace and it was left to the final offering, Philip Johnson's A Present For A Lady, before we saw ensemble work that was truly crisp.

As Laura, celebrating her silver wedding, Ginny Watts provided a fine catalyst for her three bridesmaids to reveal their personal secrets.

Brenda Vowels, Elaine Stewart and Bronya Manley all in turn took centre stage but it was the quality of their ensemble work that made this the hit of the evening.

If director Elaine Stewart can push the first two plays to reach their full potential the whole evening will quickly step up to a higher level of entertainment.

Gerry Parker

This is a Crackerjack review of Two Weddings and a Funeral. Do you agree? Rate and review this event.