Drinking Habits

Reviews

Drinking habits is a play by Tom Smith which tells the story of the convent of the Sisters of perpetual Sewing with a big secret!

This is farce in every sense of the word as it has numerous doors and doorways, several characters incognito in costume and some fast moving action.

Blackmore Players always have a top quality set and this once again ticked all the boxes. I have to also mention the programme as this was one of the best designed programmes I have seen in a long time.

The play opened with Sisters Philamena played by Linda Cearns and Sister Augusta by Jenny Harper who reveal they have secretly been making wine as well as grape juice to help the convent stay afloat but they cannot let Mother Superior played by Paula Harris Brett know as she has a major aversion to Alcohol because she can't even speak the word "wine" much less let any pass her lips. Both Linda and Jenny gave us very specific characterisations of their nuns but more importantly they worked very well together which was a solid base for the chaos which followed.

Paula was outstanding as Mother Superior, her facial expressions were spot on and big enough we could clearly see all her thoughts and feelings. The strong irish accent and her comic timing were very reminiscent of Brendan O'carroll as Mrs Brown and the audience clearly warmed to her as a character without it being a caricature. I loved her.

When you throw into the mix two reporters who were almost married sneaking into the convent to do an expose. The mele starts. Becky Smith as Sally and James Hughes as Paul were the two reporters going undercover in the convent. Becky has a strong persona on stage and easily commands attention but I didn't feel she totally committed to acting the softer side of the role. I personally would have liked to see more of her considering the options but then letting her head rule her heart, rather than hard brashness which left us with rather two dimensional character. James is also a top class performer and the many characters and costumes were a god send for him and his comedic timing. In addition, the audience were also able to empathise with the love struck reporter who was jilted at the altar. An all round strong performance.

Visiting the convent, under the guidance of the Cardinal is Sister Mary Catherine played by Sandra Trott. Sandra had a youthfulness and effervescence which was perfect for this role. Father Chenille, the 'real' local priest was played by Andrew Raymond and Andrew delivered some cracking one liners and was perfectly cast in this role and Adam smith as the groundsman George was a little slow to find his feet but came to fruition when he found the punch. The trick is not to over play that if the audience react well and this will possibly be Adams biggest challenge.

The many twists and turns of the plot were skilfully handled and this gave the audience everything they wanted and more. My only other comments would be watch the diction as in places the cast were playing for the laughs and getting over excited in the process which meant we lost some what they were saying.

Also the double-time action section at end of act one was a little messy when the timing wasn't as accurate as I am sure it was supposed to be, which left some big gaps and then mayhem. With sections like this the precision and timing is what makes the difference between some laughs and real belly laughs. It has to be like a drill squad with precision timing to make it work.

However, that is just an observation and constructive advice with what otherwise was an amazing evening entertainment and I strongly recommend anyone who lives outside the village who hasn't seen one of these productions to grab a ticket and enjoy this crazy, farce for themselves.

Nikki Mundell-Poole, https://theatrelife.org

Nuns seem to be a popular subject in comical theatre. Everyone has heard of Sister Act (first a film and now a hit musical) and recently, I’ve seen several groups perform a lesser known holy musical called Nunsense. But I hadn’t heard of Drinking Habits, which Blackmore Players’ programme declared was a “laugh-out-loud farce”.

The small cast of eight worked well together throughout the show. We first met George, who was the groundskeeper at a tiny nunnery called The Convent of the Sisters of Perpetual Sewing. Played by Adam Smith, at the start of the play some of his dialogue was a little rushed but this didn’t last for too long. We’re also introduced to Sister Philamena (Linda Cearns) and Sister Augusta (Jenny Harper), two of only three nuns who reside at the convent. We soon find out they are secretly making wine to sell in the local town to make enough money to keep the convent open… and things start to go wrong from here!

My favourite person to watch on the stage was Mother Superior, played by Paula Harris Brett. With a thick Irish accent and glasses perched precariously on the end of her nose, she had developed a fully rounded and very funny character. For me, she really stood out as one of the best in the show, with brilliant facial expressions and reactions. I also enjoyed the performance of James Hughes, who played one half of a journalistic duo aiming to find out about the scandalous wine making. His partner in crime was Sally, a ruthless reporter who wanted to catch her big break. The couple had previously been engaged, and James showed a good mix of character traits, ranging from longing and sadness at wanting Sally back and throwing himself fully into some of the more ridiculous physical humour in the play.

Becky Smith as Sally also did well. As she was trying to bring down the sweet and innocent nuns, she was hard to like a lot of the time but this was the point of the character. Andrew Raymond as Father Chenille was very good and was one of the strongest actors on stage. He was very easy to watch and I enjoyed what he did with the part. Sandra Trott, who played novice nun Sister Mary Catherine, had a sweet innocence about her which I enjoyed watching.

The set, constructed by members of the group, was superb, which I have come to expect from Blackmore Players. They seem to be able to make the tiny stage at Blackmore Village Hall look twice the size and the attention to detail is always wonderful. I particularly liked the beautiful stained glass window.

As with a lot of plays, I would say the action really got going right at the end of act one and act two was much more involved. I would question whether act one could really be described as a farce but during the second act, I was laughing and gasping along with the rest of the audience. The gasping mostly came at the climax of the show which I couldn’t have predicted in a million years. It was so outrageous, it really shouldn’t have worked, but it did! And the fact that there were actually some more serious storylines intertwined throughout the show it an extra dimension. Well done to director Hilary Martin for doing a grand job.

I must also mention a few other hilarious moments. Several parts of the show had a ring of Harry Potter about them as Mother Superior couldn’t bear to say the words “alcohol” or “wine”. Calling it “You Know What” reminded me very strongly of “He Who Must Not Be Named”! Sister Augusta was also extremely funny when she was following people around or hiding off stage whispering “Confess!”, trying to act like a hypnosis tape. And my favourite line in the whole show: “You look as nervous as a marshmallow at a BBQ.” One I’ll be using regularly from now on!

Not really knowing what to expect when I went along, by the end of the play I was pleasantly surprised with what I’d seen. Well done to Blackmore Players, and thank you for the warm welcome upon arrival.

Jess Pether, NODA