Photographs courtesy of Craig Robertson.
Cheriton Players present Fallen Angels by Noel Coward. The scene is set in the style of the playwright from the beginning as we are taken through a spoken historical timeline of 1925 which is when this play had first been performed. Setting the scene of how the social attitudes would have been during the time of its performance.
Fallen Angels is a play based around two married ladies Jane and Julia discussing the imminent arrival of Maurice with whom both had been romantically involved with before they were married. In 1925 this would have been a scandalous admission for married ladies to have revealed. Later this is echoed by the horrified responses of their husbands Fred and Willy.
I especially like the scene on the golf course. They performed it in a black and white silent movie style, projected onto a screen complete with music. The two husbands leave through the hall door and we are treated to watching them play a round of golf in a slight slapstick manner. The theatre company had even located a 1925 style car for these two to travel there and back in. This added a great dimension to the play.
Noel Cowards humour was delivered very well during the course of the play by all members of the cast. However, the timing cues in some scenes needed to be tightened up.
The attention to detail as can be seen in the photographs above show how impeccably dressed the stage was and the fantastic period costumes are that they used. All the crockery and props were in 1925 period setting. Even as far as down to the bearnaise sauce in the gravy jug. Used during the dinner scene. It takes a lot of skill to eat and act, this was performed professionally.
For a small theatre company, the level of effort which has gone into the set alone is definitely worth going to see this production or one of theirs in the future.
On from 21st-24th November 2018
Cheriton Village Hall,
Nr Alresford,
Hampshire,
SO24 0PZ.
http://www.thecheritonplayers.org.uk
Twitter @CheritonPlayers
Email thecheritonplayers@gmail.com
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