"It's Never Too Late" by Ron Aldridge.

Bonington Players.

Bonington Theatre, Arnold.

What happens when your husband leaves for a younger woman? How do you kick-start your life when you’ve never had to work?
How do you cope with the realisation that time is not on your side?

Susan Shaw at 58 finds herself in exactly this position. She’s run the home, brought-up her daughter, and had a very busy life involved with charities, village-hall committees etc. So what does she do now? Cry all day?

The play opens near the end of a meeting of the committee when she is told over the phone that her husband, Richard, wants a divorce. Fellow committee members offer all kinds of advice;  think of yourself for once, resurrect an old flame, get a job, get fit, get a toy-boy?

Susan decides to take action, and this very funny, and at times quite tender play follows Susan as she attempts a new start in life in the belief that "it’s never too late", and finds herself presented with a most surprising choice to make.

Sheila Millington plays the lead character, Susan Shaw. I mentioned that as the curtains go back there's an almighty argument happening on the phone, and straight away we see Sheila in power mode, even taking that anger and energy to another level with one of the glasses she is slamming down on the table. From that moment we see a gradual U Turn in Susan's appearance and attitude. 

Zoe Lander plays Linda Bridges, a keep fit guru who helps Susan build her confidence, advising her that what she needs to take a "toyboy" to get the juices flowing again, especially as Susan's husband has cheated with a young woman called Lisa. Every time Lisa's name is mentioned there's a spitting moment (think Bob Carolgees and Spit The Dog from the TV show "Tiswas" - look him up on Google or YouTube). Susan's floor must've been quite sodden by the end of the evening! There's some great script for Linda and I loved the line about a "mistress being a person between a "Mister" and a "mattress", highlighting the really clever and funny script.

Eddie Januszczyk plays Linda's husband, Peter Bridges, who always manages to put his foot in it with his filter free brain. Eddie is an excellent comedy actor and when he has a script as funny as this to play with, the results are just wonderful.

Wayne Hill plays Henry, a married man who has been holding a torch for Susan for a while now, and seeing an opportunity to relieve himself of his torch, throws his hat into the ring to replace Susan's husband - but does Susan want a replacement so quickly. There's a lovely confrontational scene between Henry and Richard in the second act.

Billy Bamberger is a new member of Bonington Players and makes his debut for them playing Thomas, a shy, geeky character who is part of the committee. Susan's character is not the only one to dramatically change as we see Thomas, with a little advice from Linda, emerge from his shell and take on Richard in quite an explosive argumentative scene which is broken up by Susan. I've known about Billy for a few years, but strangely enough, this is the first time that I have seen him acting. Billy has a lovely feel for comedy and I love the way that his character grew throughout the show.

Des Fitzpatrick is another newcomer joining Bonington Players in the role of Susan's husband, Richard. Des is another welcome addition to Bonington Players and the local stage, having moved up country he continues his love for acting with this brilliant debut. Even though Richard's presence is felt from the first scene, we don't physically see Richard until the second act. I've alluded to a couple of dramatic and explosive scenes involving Richard, and what I really applauded in Des's acting is that you actually believed the anger coming from Richard in Des's physical performance. Sometimes an actor may hold back in anger scenes, but not this one and it seemed as if this comedy was to take a darker turn - but not for long!

Directed and Designed by Jeff Casterton the pace was kept up throughout and the balance between serious and comedy was well observed and executed by all actors. While some comedy plays can dissolve into farce, the comedy here looked over the farce edge but retreated to the believable side of humorous theatre. Even to the very last gag, coming in the last piece of script, and from the very first scene, this comedy is rammed with laughs.

The set is another hit for me and looked as if the room where all the action takes place had been air lifted from someone's living room straight into the theatre itself, and reflected the status and lifestyle of the well established Shaws. Nine people are credited in the construction of the set, and I can believe it with the quality of this design. The lavish set dressing is by Linda Whitehurst.

The costumes reflect perfectly the characters we see on stage; for example, Henry's quite dull looking outfit reflects the banal but steady lifestyle he seems to have with plenty of browns and beiges. Thomas's sensible but boring outfit fits the geeky image perfectly with the addition of a boring tie for Thomas to wear in his "dressed up" party outfit. The keep fit outfits for Linda and Susan also reflect the two characters, but the standout costume is Susan's party outfit, which Susan keeps adjusting - if you know what I mean! The costumes have been sourced by Gail Tomlinson.

Stage managed by Robin Davis, assisted by Nigel Kenton and Luke Richardson.

The Light and Sound Design is by David Goatham; operated by Nick Hill for the sound and Peter Hodgkinson on lighting. 

"It's Never Too Late" is at the Bonington Theatre in Arnold until Saturday 18 October, so it's not too late to see this wonderfully funny piece of comedy theatre.