Maidenhead Drama Festival - Norden Farm

The curtain went up on the 61st Maidenhead Drama Festival on Tuesday, last week. Reporter Laura Enfield went along on Wednesday to get a taste of this year’s entries:

Claires Court’s offering was After Midnight Before Dawn by David Campton.

This play is traditionally set in the 1700s but as the scene of a dank cell was revealed it was clear the students had chosen to update the drama. Sentenced for witchcraft and awaiting death were six chanting figures. Costume had been used to imply a soldier, businessman, innocent servant, middle class housewife and elderly Middle Eastern woman.

The Calm Woman, who tempts the others with a satanic allegiance, is the key character and although her air of sinister calm was effective her costume and placement on stage felt a little understated.

Images flashed up behind the actors intended to extend the modern references and were a clever idea which certainly got you thinking, but were sometimes a little too brief and distracting.

Overall the acting was good and the tension rose as the condemned battled with emotions and the question arose of what they would do to stave off death. They handled their roles well, but there was a feeling the young actors held back slightly when it came to the brutality required to give the play real punch.

Maidenhead Drama Guild’s offering was Verve by Mark Lucas. A detailed set immediately immersed you in the world of a warring middle-England couple.

From the moment Mitchell stepped on stage sans trousers there was laughter and his brutal and realistic argument with wife Sally was a delight.

After she leaves him the ‘loser’ decides he can’t go on and grabs his gun. A ridiculous farce unfolds as his suicide mission is interrupted time and time again by a timely knock at door.

The costumes were well chosen but could have been exploited more for comedy value. Jokes were delivered with conviction and genuinely took the audience by surprise. I felt they pulled it of well, working as a team and making you really care about what happened.

Progress Theatre’s offering was Family Business devised by members. An ambitious undertaking but a well-chosen subject allowed the actors to draw on their own experience.

Family life is explored using the idea of a lecture complete with overly cheerful speaker and imagined Powerpoint presentation. A series of short scenes depicted the problems children face at home and were both moving and funny at times.

The young actors handled the child characters well but bad costumes did not aid their attempt at portraying parents.

Many moments were truly insightful and the use of adapted nursery rhymes worked beautifully to bring poignancy and explanation to the scenes. A couple of scenes were a little weaker and lacking in guidance for the audience but overall a thought-provoking performance.