The Bench Production
This play was staged at Havant Arts Centre, East Street Havant - Bench Theatre's home since 1977.
Cast
| Allan | Jeff Bone |
| Dick | Darryl Wakelin |
| Linda | Francine Huin-Wah |
| Bogart | Alan Welton |
| Nancy | Julie Wood |
| Girlfriends | Robyn Hunt Fiona Fairhurst |
Crew
| Director | Mark Wakeman |
| Assistant Director | Zoë Chapman |
| Producer | Lorraine Galliers |
| Stage Manager | John Wilcox |
| Assistant Stage Managers | Sian Green Megan Green |
| Lighting Design | Robin Hall Damon Wakelin |
| Lighting Operation | Dan Finch |
| Sound Designer | Darryl Wakelin |
| Sound Operation | Robin Hall Mark Wakeman |
| Costume and Props | Francine Huin-Wah |
| Hair | Helen Zervas |
| Production Design | Francine Huin-Wah |
| Set Construction | Sue Dawes Dan Finch Francine Huin-Wah Steve Mason Paul Millington Nina Slatterley Tim Taylor John Wilcox |
| Programme Designer | Lorraine Galliers |
| Production Photography | Andrew Iles |
| Front of House Manager | Megan Green |
Director's Notes
I first discovered Woody Allen in my bed. He wasn't in my bed, you understand, I was, he was just on the television and it was on an entirely different occasion, still including my bed though, that I discovered 'Play it Again Sam'. I can assure you this does not mean that I spend most of my waking life in bed, it was just a big co-incidence.
Like a lot of overweight children, I discovered that comedy was a good way of avoiding relentless beatings and name-calling at school and so I was always seeking new sources of humour which I could fob off as my own (most nine year-olds aren't that versed in the history of comedy so there was a whole untapped area that I could plagiarise then and now), and because of this an interest in comedy began which has lasted to this day.
My parents had introduced me to my early comedy heroes like Laurel and Hardy through BBC2's extremely useful film seasons. Then one day BBC2 announced a Woody Allen season. My parents were not fans and advised me against watching. But he looked pretty funny... although his films weren't shown until 9pm when I was supposed to be tucked up in bed... however there was an old black and white portable in my room and at nine I turned on BBC2, sitting as close to the screen as possible with the sound at the bare minimum to prevent angryius parentis interuptus and watched my first Woody Allen; 'Love and Death'. I didn't understand all of it but I did find it amusing. So over the next couple of weeks I snuck in some more.
When I was older I was exposed to more of his films and found that I enjoyed them immensely but I didn't see 'Play it Again Sam' until my room-mate at university revealed that he directed and starred in a version of the play at college and offered to show me this video. So we sat together on my bed with our cans of cheap lager and watched the film.
in my directing at the Bench, I have been working my way through the various sub genres of comedy, madcap farce, period, black comedy, etc and my mind wandered to Mr Allen's work, so that led me to 'Play it Again, Sam' and my first attempt at a romantic comedy.
I hope you enjoy the show. I'd like to take this chance to thank my cast and crew for all their hard efforts and ask you to clap and cheer very loudly at the end because they deserve it. I'd also like to thank you for supporting local theatre because without you we wouldn't get to do this, so keep on coming. Enjoy the show!
Mark Wakeman
Reviews
The NewsMike Allen
Play tries too hard to be manic
The message of Woody Allen's play is "Don't try too hard." So it's a pity director Mark Wakeman and lead actor Jeff Bone do exactly that. Unless a performer has the ability of Allen himself, neurosis tends to be better under-performed than over-performed, and the fact is that the less manic Bench Theatre's production becomes, the funnier and more truthful it is.
Wakeman is too inclined to have his characters pacing endlessly and tiresomely back and forth, and Bone needs to let the words do more of the talking. He plays an oddball film critic, Allen Felix, who is obsessed with Humphrey Bogart's Casablanca and demoralised by his wife's parting shot: "I don't dig you physically, but don't take it personal."
In a series of fantasy scenes, he takes inspiration from Bogart himself - a role in which Alan Welton shows a fine mastery of the laconic style - with some success. The touching nature of this aspect, and the precision of other fantasy scenes in which Allen Felix plays out a couple of pastiche Noel Coward sketches, show the production at its best.
Darryl Wakelin is properly deadpan as the friend obsessed with business and Francine Huin-Wah plays his wife with natural warmth and honesty. The 90-minute production is played without an interval. Until May 5.
The News, 27th April 2007
