“A Bunch Of Amateurs” by Riverside Drama Company
Duchess Theatre, Long Eaton.

A washed-up Hollywood star, Jefferson Steele, is flown to England to play the title role in King Lear at "Stratford" believing he will be appearing onstage at the legendary Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford-upon-Avon.

Instead he finds he has signed on with the "Stratford Players" in the Suffolk village of Stratford St John. He arrives in England with his career deteriorating and having problems with his daughter who is an aspiring actress on the fringes of the New York theatre.

The local villagers are over the moon to have such a “star” playing with them. Daniel Bates (Steele) plays a typically selfish American with no time for manners, and displays an appalling lack of class, considering himself too big for this lowly setting.

Will the arrogant Steele knuckle down to his latest role, or will he forever play the Hollywood star? Come and find out.

Martin Holtom plays Nigel Dewsbury, possibly a rival for Steele but he loves the theatre and is very confident about his acting ability with the Stratford Players.Nigel is a proper ham and Martin takes every opportunity to go over the top in a gloriously dramatic way.

Samantha Badman plays the slightly over excitable Mary in the play who has a bit of a crush on Steele.But could her jealousy be the downfall of out American star?

Jenni Wright plays Lauren, the wife of the sponsor and budding actor herself, but all does not go quite to plan when her former occupation causes quite an unexpected blow to the future of the play!!!

Phil Whittaker plays Dennis, caretaker, health and safety officer and the Duke of Gloucester. Now I love accents and Phil perfects the Suffolk accents and maintains that burr all the way through. Like all of these characters, great fun to watch.

Frances Pearson plays Jefferson’s feisty teenage daughter, Jessica Steele. Jessica is wise to her father and his ways and stands no nonsense from him. Does her love of acting bridge that gap that has widened between her and Jefferson over the years? Only one way to find out!

Daniel Bates plays Steele and what a tour de force both actor and character are. The accent was constant throughout and while you couldn't quite hate the

arrogant and vain Steele, you found yourself willing him to do well for the Stratford Players. A brilliant character part for an excellent character actor, and after tonight, I can see more possible Shakespeare?

Lizzie O Hara plays Dorothy Nettle, the director of the Stratford Players and the moving force behind keeping the theatre alive.Dorothy is very typical of many Directors I know because she is the glue, the force, the determination, the organiser, the agony aunt as well as the mother hen for this bunch of amateurs. A role that I'm sure Lizzie absolutely loved playing.

Playing the Fool is Celia Billau and each time she appeared to distract us from the scene changes, her songs got ever more strange and comical. the costumes also became brighter and bolder, as did Celia! Liz Turner must get a mention for the song lyrics.

Directed by Rachel Bates, the pace of this comedy was spot on. The characters were wonderfully different and it's nice to say that I could recognise many actors I know in many of the characters in this play, especially the role of Nigel! Comedy is a lot harder to make succeed than straight plays but the comedy flowed well and the timing was faultless. that was no surprise to me though as Riverside are very good at producing some wonderful comedy pieces of theatre.

Loved the set design which was also by Rachel. Typical of many local am dram performance stages I've seen over the years.

Sound and lights were under the control of Dave Martin, and my only note was that maybe the sound effects could have been a little lower in volume. The phone ring tone and the thunder and rain could be turned down just a few notches.

The costumes for the final production of King Lear were marvellous, thanks to the costume Queen, Mina Machin as well as the company.

There is a speech in this play near the end which explains why people do am dram and local theatre and this rings so true, and I felt like applauding this section alone. They also explain that in small villages, something like as dram keeps a community going and brings the village together and that is oh so true.

The writers Ian Hislop and Nick Newman really get to the heart of what local theatre is all about and that an amateur operation like local theatre is anything but amateur. I for one have been shouting this for decades.

“A Bunch Of Amateurs” is at The Duchess Theatre in Long Eaton until Saturday 23 June 2018. Book your tickets for "A Bunch Of Amateurs" but be prepared to watch a local theatre group that are anything but!