This Secret Isle
21 November 2024
This was a true community play which demonstrated all the strengths and power of the genre. Billed as a ‘World Première’ and written and directed by a member of Double Act, Peter Smith, it wove together very effectively World War II local history with exciting and intriguing plot-lines to offer a delightful, entertaining and informative evening.
With some lovely touches to create atmosphere, the Village Hall auditorium had been decked out with WW II posters (Make do and Mend, Careless Talk Costs Lives etc), the refreshments hatch had been labelled as a NAAFI Café, and a period-style ‘radio broadcast’ gave the pre-play announcements such as ‘please disable your communication devices as the enemy can track them for bombing raids’. Appropriately the play started with an air-raid siren and, set out on the stage, a very impressively-created tailplane of a German bomber.
A high standard of creativity, design and craft was indeed a feature of the technical element throughout. The box set, the interior of a Purbeck pub, was excellent, capturing the 1940s period look and feel with wood-panelling effect and wallpaper, a raised section with a wooden balustrade, tables and bar stools, and a door which did sterling service in facilitating the many entrances and exits of the actors. The bar area itself was painstakingly realised with a large mirror at the back, beer pumps on the bar, a lovely vintage radio and an impressive array of bottles on the shelves.
Creative use of lighting and furniture, such as moving tables and chairs around, allowed for shifts of location and were handled smoothly and efficiently. There were clever effects such as the disintegrating stool which Paget, the suspected spy, smashed over the spy-catcher Walker; or when a dramatic and startling explosion (a bomb blast?) was followed by rubble falling down over the doorway.
The Direction was one of the strongest features among many of this production. The moves of the cast around the stage were judicious and the Director made good use of the wide stage to facilitate large cast scenes; some characters sitting at the pub tables, others at the bar, others standing in the centre. The lighting was used to good effect, switching deftly from one side of the stage to the other, to highlight either a conversation at a table or a discussion at the bar. The characters themselves were clearly established, as were their relationships and interactions.
The script by Peter Smith worked really well to hold the interest and attention of the audience, having adopted a narrative style and dramatic plot-lines rather than just presenting a series of dramatised anecdotal incidents. There were plenty of plot strands to keep the audience intrigued. Close attention was needed to follow them all up but the pace and the length of the scenes allowed for this. Historical facts and real incidents such as the establishment of bombing decoys in the area and the big bombing raid on Arne were woven into the storyline, and there were plenty of historical references dropped in casually to enhance the context and feel of the period, such as Ivor Novello being arrested for petrol coupon abuse. I was curious to know which were the true incidents and which were invented as part of the play. Was, for example, the boot with a severed foot still in it based on fact?
The intrigue, suspense and excitement of the spying plot was balanced by scenes of light relief, as when a group of female characters joked about rationing and, having switched on the radio to listen to ‘The Kitchen Front’ with Doris Arnold, went into a song and dance along to the radio playing ‘Potato Pete’ with the Billy Cotton Dance Orchestra. Another song and dance number during the play, The Sun Has Got His Hat On, provided enjoyable variety, as did a carefully crafted strain of comedy which ran throughout. This was achieved primarily through amusing characters, well-written by the author and given humorous lines, who were skilfully portrayed by the actors. These included Sarah Lomas the Land Girl (Paulette Stephens) who breezed onto the stage with confidence and bonhomie and who, it became apparent, was ‘working her way’ through all the soldiers in Purbeck; the delightful PC Arthur Dalglish (Dougal Dixon) who with a nice touch craftily helped himself to a drink from the bar while on duty and while no one was looking; and the wonderfully imperious Lady Ashton (Teresa Neal) who commanded the stage when she was on with cutting lines such as ‘it’s like Picadilly Circus in here’.
It was the strong acting across the board by the cast, combined with strong direction, which held the various strands of the plot together. The cast was a large one and there were a great many comings and goings for the actors (and presumably the backstage team too) to negotiate; this was managed with skill – well done to all for that, and for the performances. All were very good, and particular highlights for me were Jane Truman (Mary Newcombe) the youngest daughter of the publicans, the local ‘character’ from Arne, Jeb Mathews (Mike Spinney), the intense, intimate interrogation scene between John Walker (Rob Schofield) and David Paget (Nick Jubber), and a stand-out performance by Cynthia Paget (Lindsay Dixon).
This was a bold, ambitious, extensive production which in other hands could have sprawled out of control, but Double Act succeeded in it with aplomb. It was holistic, it worked as a whole – an intriguing story with an atmosphere and a period feel generated through the excellent costumes, 1940s hairstyles, the language and the set; clever use of lighting and technical effects, strong acting and strong direction. The programme too was a triumph, full of interest and with the nice touch of having been printed on the site of the Holton Heath cordite works from WW I and WW II. This was a great community play and had a great community feel. Well done to all involved.