OUT OF FOCUS

TYLDESLEY LITTLE THEATRE

Until Saturday

A CHURCH hall where a series of over-bookings have occurred is a simple starting point for a comedy.

But that is no bad thing as it quickly becomes evident that Out of Focus, being staged by Tyldesley Little Theatre until Saturday, is packed full of laughs.  

A mismatched bunch of cleverly-crafted characters are thrown together and soon find themselves signing up to appear in a pantomime.

All the action in Peter Gordon’s comedy, first published in 1990 and updated in 2009, takes place in the annexe of a church hall.

It is a delightful satire of village or small town life and had a touch of the Victoria Wood sitcom Dinnerladies about it, as the unlikely bunch try to make the best of the situations they find themselves in, with some great laugh out loud moments.

Ian Taylor and Andrea Peters, as bickering couple Bob and Kath Enfield, give particularly natural performances and Ian delivers his lines with great comic timing and facial expressions.

Ian Hunter puts in a very enjoyable performance as a tank top-clad Roy Cropper type character, Leonard Trotter, intent on delivering a talk on steam locomotives to anyone who will listen.

The rest of the cast puts in strong performances - Roma Etherington as the nervous vicar’s wife who is prone to bursting into tears; Joan Rogers as the haughty Brownies leader Helen Beever; Ingrid Folkard-Evans as Sue Dixon, the voice of reason; Connor Parkinson as wannabe Romeo, Wayne Bryant, and Alex Clarke as badminton-playing policeman David Wright, while newcomer Rhiannon Williams makes a nice debut as flirty Linda Hammond.

The first act and pantomime performance scenes were particularly enjoyable, as the characters donned a range of wacky outfits as they gathered in the hall and prepared to go on stage.

I felt the end, with the slides scene, petered off slightly but perhaps that was more due to the fact that the preceding scenes had been so entertaining.

Out of Focus, directed by Jenny Whur and on at the Lemon Street theatre until Saturday, is a very strong and enjoyable start to TLT’s season.