Is the Christmas Spirit still with you? 
As is often the case with Wrington Drama Club productions we were
immediately drawn into the action by the split level stage. And hey! Were
the hotel owners Basil and Sybyl Fawlty clones? Sure to be a good Christmas
spirit here then. As Maria Hustlethwaite (Rebecca Bryce) sets the table and
rasps "Is the white wine chilled?" her husband Jeremy (Simon Medd) is bold
enough to reply "Well, if not perhaps you could breath on it".
Plenty of good one-liners in Tony Watts' plausible script. The arriving guests
all have baggage with them and it's not just the cases which Jeremy grudgingly carries upstairs.
We had a sympathetic performance from Pat Milne who as Phyllida Winstone
seems too nice to have walked away from a small daughter as well as a
troubled marriage. This daughter (Rebecca Key) is now a rebellious student
experimenting with booze - the cheap variety swopped by the landlady - and
eventually makes peace with her mother. The couple with financial problems
were at pains to prepare bogus pictures of their 'Christmas in Bali' on
their laptop to impress friends. Tony's script may have seemed brittle but
there was an underlying sense of familiarity with maybe a work colleague, a
difficult relative, or even oneself.
We had a deliciously over-the-top performance from Alienora Taylor as Mrs
Timms who, after imbibing injudiciously, was revealed not as an upper-crust
lady but a cockney sparrer wiv a taste for musical hall songs. Gliding
smoothly through the action was the mysterious mother of the hotel
proprietor, offering advice and comfort - couldn't have been done better by
anyone than Echo Irving. The clever twist in the story was not revealed
until the final moments.
I loved the present collecting and distributing she did on Boxing Day -
"Bring something that matters to you but that you don't mind giving away".
The sad, child-bereft lady was given new hope by a pink baby-gro suit. Did
Enid Hustlethwaite prove to be the catalyst? We were left to make up our
own minds. Oh! I did love Jo Gillions' drunken cook - all done in silence!
Well done to Phil Neve for directing the alternative to Pantomime.
Congratulations to all whose hard work went into this production.
Rosemary Hodges
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