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An Evening of One-Act Plays, P&P Players, Bournemouth Little Theatre Club, Jameson Road.

THESE three contrasting four-hander plays served to prove once again that P&P has a wealth of talent within its ranks.

John Mortimer’s Knightsbridge, in which Muriel may, or may not, be selling antique furniture, made the least impact, not least because of a very disappointing set that appeared to have been papered in a great hurry. And, unfortunately, despite some good performances there was a period mid-play when the prompt’s services were required rather too often, creating a slightly embarrassing hiatus.

Les Clarke’s The People That Live in Boxes, directed by Pat Donovan, centred round two friends who sleep rough, and whose lives are set to change forever following a visit from a mature student doing a thesis on the homeless. Well characterised throughout, Chris Vessey (Joe) and Sarah Stanley (Beck) gave such frighteningly realistic performances that the audience sat in stunned silence at the final curtain.

The mood lightened with Last Panto in Little Grimley, when a comic mix of pantomime horse, banana skins, concussed stage managers and temperamental luvvies, not to mention four delightful performances, hit just the right spot and sent us all out into the night with grins on our faces.  

Linda Kirkman

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