A LAUGH-A-MINUTE TRYST IN THE  ALGARVE SUN 

 

The plot may have been wafer thin and the gags as corny as a field of maize, but the latest production from Riding Mill Drama Club, Holiday Snap, was a rip-roaring, laugh-a-minute success.
From the opening scene to the last, there was a frantic pace to Michael Pertwee and John Chapman's comedy.
Thanks to skilful direction and wonderful acting, the end result was an am-dram farce which would not have been out of place on a West End stage.
Enormous credit must go to Mike Smith, as director, for wringing the most out of a play which derived its laughs from dialogue rather than slapstick or props .
As Commander Chittenden, he combined the role of director with that of lead actor   ‘Chitto' was the bungling and myopic drunk responsible for letting a Portuguese time-share, oblivious to the fact that the apartment had been double-booked by two couples, each on an adulterous week in the sunshine .
Eileen Davidson played Eve, the sex-starved wife of a violent and jealous garage owner.
She was matched perfectly by Shaun Fenwick, as the timid and naive car salesman dragged abroad for an Algarve assignation.
The other adulterous pair also achieved maximum potential out of their roles .
Ian Lockey was convincing as the lecherous barrister Henry, while Hazel Osmond was suitably haughty and condescending as the snooty Mary .
The scenes in which both couples resorted to broken English as they mistook each other for Portuguese servants were gloriously silly.
Moyra Gardner's arrival on the scene as Celia, Henry's suspicious mother-in-law, was perfectly timed to add new impetus to an otherwise meagre plot .
And just as things were in danger of running out of steam, on stage arrived Peter Woodward as Henry’s two-timing pal Perky to bring an appropriately farcical end to proceedings.
Throughout the play, rapid and at times complicated dialogue was delivered precisely, and with perfect timing.
Once again, the Riding Mill audience were treated to a masterpiece, which only enhances the village drama club's reputation as one of the finest in the land.

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Hexham Courant.