006 Contemporary Drama – Old
Nick Warburton also back in the game with a play with all
his hallmarks on it, Our Late Supper from
2007. I did really start to become
involved with the characters, all down to the imposing performance of Marcia
Warren. A very fussy, rather lonely
woman, she has a northern builder (the versatile Gerard McDermott) build her a
patio. He brings his lonely, dreamy
daughter Charlie (Holly Granger) with him, and at first she irritates “Miss,”
but then Miss enjoys talking with her.
They have a falling out when it turns out Miss has been lying quite a
bit about her past, but eventually she comes clean. Summarized, it doesn’t sound like much, but
the transformation from sour-faced cow to charming, warm-hearted woman was
beautifully done. It was directed by the
late Claire Grove.
I never much liked the song Baby, It’s Cold Outside, but I did enjoy this play from 1995. Max (Kenneth Cranham) is a ruthless
businessman who typifies the 1980s—indeed, the parallels with Scrooged seemed very clear—and crushes
anyone who doesn’t live up to his standards.
When he seduces a much younger woman (Julia Ford) at a celebratory party
in the dead of winter, he gets much more than he bargained for. Told out of chronological sequence, it had a
real sense of atmosphere—you could almost feel the temperature dropping. I had never heard a young(er) Kenneth Cranham
before, so it was a nice treat. It was
written by Eric Pringle and directed by Cherry Cookson. It also starred Neville Jason, Malcolm Ward,
Elaine Claxton, and Vivian Rochester.
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