"Gym n Tonic" by John Godber

Belper Players.

Strutts Community Centre, Belper, Derbyshire.

John Godber always manages to create and write characters who are human, who speak and act like humans. They're the sort of people who you will recognise within your own world.

Don and Shirley Weston have come to the very posh, expensive Scardale Hall Health Hydro to relax, pamper themselves and just possibly rescue their ailing marriage. Don's experiences with exercise and therapy are far from positive and the rifts in the marriage widen as his mid-life crisis becomes more and more evident, and moments of reconciliation do little to improve the situation. Shirley is determined to take advantage of all the facilities and have the time of her life; Don is constantly thinking how much the stay is costing and struggles to relax, despite the luxurious surroundings.

Don Weston is played by Mik Horvath. Anyone who has either seen Mik before, or knows him, will know that one of his secret weapons on stage is his ability to create comedy with his facial expressions and ability to make you smile without saying a word. In addition to this  talent, he supplements it with a talent to deliver a script with great natural ability, almost as if it isn't a script. We all know someone like Don, which is what makes this role and character so joyous to watch, and you can empathise with Don, especially with his quest to better his life and health, and also with the more serious scenes Mik is involved with.

Shirley Weston is played by Sarah Henderson. You can feel just how beaten down Shirley is, but she has not lost hope in rekindling that spark that Don and herself had when they first met. And it's that hope for that spark that makes you get behind her quest to keep that lovelight burning. There's a lovely connection with all the other characters, bar one, but there's a really nice affinity with Gertrude, especially in the second act. 

Chloe, who gets to give Don his massages, is played by Meg Russell. It's the two massage scenes which deliver so much of the concentrated comedy to the play. What I also loved about these massage scenes was the aroma of the oils used by Chloe, which also convinced me that Meg knows what she is doing when it comes to the art of massage.

Ken Blake, the construction company owner and self made man, is played by Nick Mothershaw. Ken is another one of those characters that we all know, or have known in the past. Ken is a man with a massive ego; he is successful in business, great at sports and thinks that he is God's Gift to the female of the species. It's his wanderlust that actually leads to Don standing up to him after something that Shirley let slip during a conversation. It's a good actor that make an audience feel any kind of emotion towards their character, and Nick, along with a couple of other cast members, managed to get some great responses from Tuesday night's audience. I was surprised that there wasn't a slime trail from Ken, or is that Ben, whenever he went off stage.

Gertrude Tate, the scatty and slightly eccentric multi-millionairess, is played by Jane Robertson. Jane presented this wonderful character almost, and this is just my opinion, like a mix of Peggy Mount and Miriam Margolyes, due to the lack of any sort of filter. The sort of character that you love to be around, as long as you weren't on the receiving end. Money obviously means nothing to Gertrude, and she has a lovely moment when she manages to really put Ken/Ben in his place. Wonderful characterisation from Jane, who also doubles up her roles by playing Maggie, Don's mum, in a brilliant, almost dream like psychedelic scene to end the first act, along with the other cast members.

Shaun is a guest at the spa  is played by Matthew Taylor. If there's a character even more unlikeable than Ken it has to be Shaun. This character really comes into his own in the second act with a scene with Shirley. A scene that really extracted emotions from the audience. An actor will always say that playing a character that is not so nice is great - ask any panto villain - because the character, and their speech is meatier, and that is the case here. The nastiness comes right out of the blue, which is why it shocked many of the audience. Matthew is another actor who really succeeded in getting a great audience reaction for his role, showing what a good character actor he is. Matthew also plays the role of Sam, Don and Shirley's teenage son.

Zoe, a fitness instructor employee, is played by Kat Foxx-Booth. What I liked about this role was how Kat brought to the fore the fact that these fitness employees put on a mask when they are teaching, and then at times let that mask slip, in the right company, showing the human side of the character. A very energetic performance, and I love Kat's hair.

Directed by Louisa Jenkins. Lou has brought out every ounce of comedy from Godber's script along with the cast. It's perfectly paced and I adored the Northern Soul soundtrack used for the scene changes and Zoe's dance and aerobic sessions.

Set design for this production is split into three sections; a seating/relaxed area, an outdoor section and the central section which incorporated the massage parlour, aerobic/dance space/squash court among them. All three sections aptly dressed, but unfortunately the programme does not seem to mention who was responsible for this part of the production.

Sound is by Pete Watson and Nikky Rowe, perfectly combining sound effects as well as the Northern Soul soundtrack.

Lighting is by Tom Hammond and Nick Mothershaw. Did anyone else notice that with the squash scene lighting effect looked just like the head of a squash racquet? Whether this was accident or intended, it was cleverly done as I only noticed that effect in that scene.

Costumes and props, and there were quite a few props included in this play, are thanks to Patricia Church and Nikky Rowe.

Ably stage managed by Alex Libby.

You are guaranteed a wonderfully comedic evening with anything that has John Godber's name attached to it, and this is no different. The play was written about twenty five years ago, but as with several of John's plays, there are often several re-writes, this included, which only strengthens an already hilarious story.

I've not seen this play performed before, which is a real shame because the characters and the storyline is classic Godber, so make sure that you grab yourself a ticket so that you can tick this off of your Godber list - as I can now do - and also to watch a fantastic cast perform some brilliant comedy lines. Where else will you hear life being described as a "turd sandwich" and then you die?

"Gym n Tonic" by The Belper Players is on until Saturday 14 June.