For Flora Poste, child of deceased Robert Poste, it can't be easy, not only has she lost a father but she has the only option of going to stay with family, although only 19, still unmarried and unable in the post war era to buy a house, let alone live on her own. So after venturing from upmarket London, to a rural countryside farm, she finds that she is alone in her well mannered and well spoken ways. The family do there best to make her feel unwelcome in the most comic ways, while she is determined to stay and change them.
Unfortunately though the storyline sounds rather amusing, the performance at the Progress Theatre in Reading, which i went to see, it was more of a child's playground than a professionally staged piece.
Though the actor playing Flora, was very convincing as her character, the rest were unable to convince the audience they were anything more than themselves. The performance was over voiced and at times i felt myself wincing at how loud the cast were shouting. Flora spent the show stepping out of the scene and commentating on what was going on, and how it fitted the narrative conventions of a comedy and its' battle between classes and it was an interesting take on the play, which i was impressed by.
However, there were funny moments, where the comedy of the play was shown in its' full glory in which it was meant to be performed. And when the actors came into the audience, breaking down the fourth wall, although the idea was a good one, they over acted it and made the audience worried about being fallen on rather than concentrating on the words of the play, or what they were actually portraying.
Overall, although there were parts which i was really impressed with, it was uncomfortable to watch, and had all the ingredients to a good show, but needed a lot of work.
Pfft you read that script and try and do anything else with it.
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