Much Ado About something very special

THAME Players produced top-class performances of Much Ado About Nothing, one of Shakespeare’s greatest comedies, in front of a capacity audiences in the beautiful setting of The Elms in Thame, from Tuesday to Saturday last week.

Claire Southeard and Richard Roach as Beatrice and Benedick

Although now twenty years since the Players last performed open-air in the same delightful garden setting,  you would not have thought so, because this production, set in the Edwardian era with the Grade II listed house as backdrop, and complete with Charleston dancing and 1920s jazz music by Jelly Roll Morton, was highly professional, slick, and well thought-out by its director, David Bright.

James McCann, the sound engineer, deserves a particular mention for the clarity of the sound production – not always easy in the open air with cast members moving around on stage.

The lead parts of Beatrice and Benedick were played beautifully flirtatiously by Claire Southeard and Richard Roach, with a superb cast of 20, including the bad guys, suitably hissed at by an appreciative audience, played by Tim Shepherd, James Whitaker and Andrew Clamp, and comic relief uproariously provided by Tony Long, Colin Love and a trio of watchmen.

The cast of Thame Players’ production of Much Ado About Nothing taking a well-earned bow at the end of Friday’s performance

Fine weather prevailed for all performances, marred only by some light rain on the opening night, and audiences flocked to The Elms, generously opened to the public by its owners for the week, to enjoy picnics on the grass before the show, with delicious home-made food provided by local cooks, Kirsty’s Kitchen and Made by Mums. This was surely an idyllic experience for all who came to enjoy one of the Bard’s most joyful plays in such a fine setting, and one to remember fondly in the colder months ahead.

Thame Players, who this autumn will be celebrating 70 years as an amateur theatre group, are grateful to their sponsors, Rectory Homes, Reaston Brown, Wills & Trusts, Pearson Insurance, RCP Service Centre, Abbotts Office Solutions, Richardsons, XT Brewing and Connect Scaffolding, for making such a polished production possible.

For more information about Thame Players visit http://www.thameplayers.co.uk.

To obtain tickets for Thame Players’ next production, Quartet by Ronald Harwood, at The Players Theatre in Nelson Street from September 9 – 13, call Tickets Anywhere on 01844 217228 or book online at http://www.thameplayers.co.uk

To become a Thame Players member, friend, or to help as a volunteer, call Tony Long on 07938 857291.

SOURCE: Contributed by Helen Johns