Twyford Drama plays a blinder
Fight Them for the Beeches Twyford Drama May 11-14 www.twyforddrama.co.uk
Reminiscent of the clientele of Richard Osman’s popular Thursday Murder Club series, the play’s cast are residents at Beeches Manor Residential Home, where the action takes place.
The set was perfect and evoked the slightly faded grandeur of an old manor house, with a portrait of the late Lord Cornwallis taking pride of place on the wall.
We meet the cast as they heard the awful news that the owner of Beeches Manor has died unexpectedly.
The cast were clearly enjoying themselves – the coffee-addicted Colonel (Richard Rudman) traumatised by his past; the ‘wheeler-dealer’ Walker (Mike Higgins) taking great joy in finding places to hide illicit alcohol;
Cassandra ‘Woo Woo’ (Rebecca Down) sensing people’s auras and bad news at every turn; Iris (Kathy Reid) clearly in charge and quietly running the home while tackling difficult crosswords;
And the ‘new’ resident George (Ian McDonald) raises the suspicions of the residents due to his ‘teeny tiny’ mobile phone and overheard secretive calls.
The residents were beautifully cared for by Honey Potter, the chef and general assistant (Sam Gittins) serving coffee at every opportunity, and her boss, the Beeches manager Sam Harris (Jac Rampton).
In a ‘are they/aren’t they?’ relationship, they shared touching scenes together in the cleaning cupboard.
The dastardly Lord
Christopher Cornwallis (Marc Reid), son of the late Lord Cornwallis, soon made his intentions clear as he summoned the residents to inform them he wanted to sell the Manor – supposedly to clear his late father’s gambling debts.
The second half revealed a plot twist no one expected that had the audience collectively gasping in astonishment.
The production at Loddon
Hall, Twyford, was a beautifully written and well-cast joyous riot of undercover sleuthing, puzzling but enlightening crossword clues, password cracking and above all the power of friendship.
A triumph by Twyford Drama.