9 - 12 October 2013 - The Thrill Of Love

And finally - the performances. A four night run of Amanda Whittington's powerful play staged at the YMCA Theatre in Cardiff by the Cardiff Players, attracting a record audience attendance. The two weeks plus of intense rehearsals, techie runs and set build finally paid off - the result was a show that was powerfully played and looked stunning.

Speaking of the look, I can now reveal (as hitherto it has been wisely kept a secret) that almost the entire production was presented in greyscale. That included set, props, costumes and actors and the majority of the projected backdrops. The concessions to these were the video inserts (see previous blog entry) and other flashes of colour on the screen, and also when Vickie makes a stunning appearance in full colour toward the end of the play. It was a huge gamble by director Jules to make this work, especially the make-up; the poor actors had to endure hours of experimentation before the right look was achieved. But it all came together beautifully. 

But of course all this would be for nothing without the performances from the five actors giving life to Whittington's dynamic dialogue. While all were uniformly excellent, I must give special mention to Helen Power as Sylvia and Louise McLaughlin as Ruth, for their powerfully emotive performances. More than once there were moist eyes in the lighting box (mine I might add).

As indicated previously, the playwright herself came to Cardiff to see the performance for herself - a rare privilege for an AmDram group! After the show, the Players put on a buffet for her at the Maldron Hotel which gave us all an opportunity to talk about the play and her future productions. Of particular interest to me is her next play - an adaptation of Susie Boyt's My Judy Garland Life - which is to be presented in Nottingham early next year. Amanda said she thoroughly enjoyed the Players production of The Thrill Of Love, especially the ideas (such as the greyscaling) that were not present in the West End run.

And now... it's all done with. Final bow taken, make up removed and set struck - no evidence left that this ever happened. It's a strangely saddening sensation; after weeks of exhausting intensity it is suddenly all gone without trace. But I guess that is the nature of theatre.

And at least we all know that, in the end, we put on a bloody good show.