"A Bunch Of Amateurs" by Bonington Players.

Bonington Theatre.

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

Steve Atkin (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. There's a lovely U turn moment though later in the play when this media loving star gets the wrong kind of media. 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. Steve also gets to play a drunken Steele with a whole lot of realism. Is this what they call method acting to get this role so sharply tuned?

Christian King plays Nigel Dewberry, 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 Christian takes every opportunity to go over the top in a gloriously dramatic way. There's that feel of Kenneth Williams in the character which is brought out wonderfully snootily by Christian.

Lindsey Hemingway plays the slightly over excitable Mary Plunkett in the play who has a bit of a crush on Steele. But could her jealousy be the downfall of our American star? There's a lot of comedy with this character which Lindsey is so at home with, and in Mary's effort to impress Steele, gets to wear some wonderfully flashy outfits. I love that green sparkly one.

Sheila Millington plays Lauren Bell, 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!!! Another lovely actor who has a genuine feel, in more ways than one, for comedy.

Wayne Hill plays Denis Dobbins, caretaker, health and safety officer and the Duke of Gloucester. Now I love accents and Wayne perfects the Suffolk accent and maintains that burr all the way through. Like all of these characters, great fun to watch.

Gennie Price 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!

Anna Hodkin 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. Anna also designed the wonderful set.

There's a character in the play called The Fool, but unfortunately the programme doesn't list the lady who played this part.

The journalists are played by Chris Gardner, Eddie Januszczyk and Jo Whitehurst.

Directed by Liz Atkin, 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.

I've mentioned that Anna designed the set, and just how wonderful it is, but I really must mention the throne that Lear, aka Steele, has which is rather marvellous, as is all of the regal decorations, a contrast to the almost bare setting for the barn that the Stratford Players use as their theatre.  The set dressing is the work of Linda Whitehurst.

I have also touched on some of the costumes used, and subtle as they may be, there are quite a few changes of costumes for all the cast. Costumes are down to Charlotte Hukin. The costumes for the final production of King Lear were marvellous.

Sound operation is by David Goatham, who is also responsible for the lighting and video design. The video design is what makes this production very special, apart from the wonderful talents of the cast. There are segments, shown on the big screen, which take you from the plane landing at Heathrow Airport, via the press conference and also what turns into a very funny sketch which would not have been out of place in an old Benny Hill sketch, complete with special visual effects as well. Very clever and very different approach to the presentation of this particular production.

Lighting operation is by Peter Hodgkinson, who knows exactly what he is doing in this area of production.

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 am 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 many years.

“A Bunch Of Amateurs” is at Bonington Theatre in Arnold until Saturday 19 October. Pop along and see an amateur theatre group who are anything but amateur.