No Mean Company

Shorts In The Dark - 1998

An evening of short plays, extracts and poems with live music

Who did what

Directed by

Evelyn Wallace

Maureen Alexander

Catherine Mitchell

Gerry Campbell

Karina Gallagher

Music By

Russell McGill

Paul Lucas

Crew

Raymie McCabe

Stuart Golder

Tam Sutherland

Special thanks to Cumbernauld Village Nursing Home for use of the wheelchair and to Cumbernauld Theatre’s technical department

MEAN TIME AT THEATRE

Cumbernauld News

FROM the funny to the sad, from the bizarre to the thought-provoking, all human life is there as No Mean Co present “Shorts In The Dark” at Cumbernauld Theatre this week.

The amateur company’s eclectic programme of short plays, excerpts and poems can be seen from tomorrow (Thursday) to Saturday, May 24.

Ranging from Norman McCaig’s narrative poem “Stobhill” to Arnold Wesker’s “Whatever Happened To Betty Lemon?”, the show also includes pieces and poems by Neil Simon, Anne Marie Di Mambro, Iain Heggie, Jenny Joseph and local playwright Brian j Miller.

Teenage pregnancy is the subject of “Hilary”, while “Stobhill” looks at the effects of an abortion on all those affected by it – from the mother to a hospital porter.

“The Applicant” is an absurdist skit in which a job interview turns out to involve more than the applicant bargained for. Jobs are also highlighted in an extract from Brian J Miller’s dole queue comedy “Queuers For Work”, while there’s more comedy in Neil Simon’s “The Governess” and an excerpt from Iain Heggies’s “Politics in the Park”.

Also on the bill are Anne Marie Di Mambro’s “The Letterbox” and poems by Jenny Joseph and others, backed by live music from local musician Russell McGill.

“Shorts In The Dark” is not suitable for children due to the presence of some strong language.

The show can be seen at 7.45 pm each night. Tickets are priced £4 or £2 for concessions on Thursday, £4.50 or £3 for concessions on Friday and Saturday.

No Mean Feat

Paul Carnahan reviews the latest show from no Mean Company

No Mean Company took to the stage a Cumbernauld Theatre last week with “Shorts In The Dark”, a selection of short plays, extracts, poems and live music.

Diane Wright took on the tough task of opening the show solo with the monologue “Hilary”, skillfully and movingly walking a tightrope between gallus comedy and touching drama.

Diane was back in “Stobhill”, the story of an abortion seen through the eyes of the mother (Diane), the doctor (Maureen Alexander), the father (Jon Eriksen), the porter (Owen Costello) and the boilerman (Charlie Friell) – hard hitting stuff, make all the more effective by stark lighting and first-rate performances.

Jon Eriksen was particularly fine as the chillingly laddish father, while Charlie Friell, always an excellent comic performer, had a rare chance to air his equally well honed dramatic talents.

The absurd and blackly comic “The Applicant” followed with Jon Eriksen undergoing the interview from hell at the hands of Evelyn Wallace. Surreal, sinister and very, very funny, it boasted a pair of well-judged performances which stayed just the right side of OTT.

In “The Letterbox”, Anne MacEwan delivered the night’s finest performance, playing a battered wife left locked out for the night with only her (unseen) young child on the other side of the door for company. Intensely emotional without ever resorting to hammy melodrama, it was a hugely impressive, utterly believable performance.

An excerpt from Brian miller’s dole queue comedy “Queuers For Work” lightened the mood considerable – just in time for the interval – with Ian Peebles and David Mair making a hilarious double act. Both were on excellent form, David playing the long-suffering wiseguy, Ian the gullible idiot.

“The Governess” was a slight but entertaining piece, with Angela Milton as the Mistress, trying to teach resolutely meek governess Julia (Jo Grant) a life lesson.

An excerpt from Iain Heggie’s “Politics In the Park” followed with yet another winning double act in Dorothy Roberts and Angela Milton as gossipy sisters Jinty and Effie.

Closing the night was “Whatever Happened To Betty Lemon?” which even with an outstanding performance from Liz Ingram seemed to overstretch its already paper- thin content. Without Liz’ commanding and comic work as the disabled MP’s widow, there would have been very little substance to “Whatever Happened To Betty Lemon?”

“Shorts in the Dark”, by it’s very nature, was always going to be a bit of a mixed bag. That it held together so well is a tribute to the performers, their directors and stage crew – and musicians Russell McGill and Paul Lucas, who played a rousing and atmospheric selection of songs and instrumentals between each piece.