Out of Focus (2013)

by Peter Gordon

Directed by Chris Bainbridge

An unfortunate over-booking of the Church Hall results in a gathering of a wonderful mix of local characters, ranging from Evonne, the nervous Vicar's wife, to Leonard, a man intent on delivering a talk on steam locomotives to anyone who will listen! Out of Focus was performed in October 2013 at Theatr Colwyn with the following cast:

Helen Beever..............................Carole Lauren

Sue Dixon...................................Lorna Hughes

Evonne Duckworth....................Lara Crawford

Kath Enfield.............................Karen Shepherd

Bob Enfield.............................Richard Williams

David Wright..............................Chris Atherton

Leonard Trotter................................Ian Wilson

Wayne Bryant.................................Ryan Davies

Linda Hammond.....................Leah Bainbridge

Noda Review by Lyn Emerson:

This production was definitely not ‘out of focus’, and Chris Bainbridge must be congratulated on his directorial debut, the first of many, I hope.

Peter Gordon’s comedy of over booking the Church Hall by different groups on the same night was great fun throughout, and gave the players the opportunity to demonstrate their stagecraft, thus giving a well balanced and most enjoyable performance. There was not a weak link in the cast, all of whom were very experienced players. Another fine performance from Lara Crawford as the shy, ‘Miss Tiggywinkle’ vicar’s wife, and director of her very first pantomime Evonne Duckworth. Ian Wilson’s portrayal of Leonard Trotter who had a slide show for almost every subject, was second to none, his black country accent really added to the annoying ‘anorak character’ he created, and he maintained his accent throughout.  Carole Lauren as Helen Beever was the typical authoratative over-bearing Brown Owl in charge of her gals, whilst badminton players Karen Shepherd and Richard Williams as Kath and Bob Enfield respectively portrayed the ‘seven year itch’ couple to a tee. Linda Hammond played by Leah Bainbridge, methodically forging a third side of the eternal triangle. Chris Atherton and Lorna Hughes gave invaluable contribution to the success of the piece as David Wright and Sue Dixon who also turned up for the big game. Good charactization from Ryan Davies as Wayne Bryant, who gave us many comical moments as he tried to impress anyone who would listen to him.

The second Act saw the cast uniting together to perform Evonne’s pantomime, with many issues cropping up. Final performance party saw Evonne downing several glasses of wine, which Lara portrayed convincingly. Director took full advantage of playing area. Set details and props provided were first class, panto costumes ‘out of this world’ and  ‘Extract from Church Newsletter No 73’ attached to programme a real hoot! Script was pacey with no pauses. This indeed was a brilliant performance, only downside was the anti climax ending of the play itself which was no fault of this talented cast.  Great effort throughout.