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From the Croydon Advertiser - 27th of July, 2007
Review by Theo Spring
- 3 stars
A cracking set of Luigi's restaurant, complete with bar and three tables awaiting diners, provided the perfect backdrop.
Sturdy cowboy-style doors swung sturdily and frequently on their hinges.
Written and directed by ATG Drama Group member Christine Woodhead, the comedy had, it seemed to me, much in common with Alan Ayckbourn's Between Mouthfuls in which snippets of conversation are overheard as the waiter moves from table to table.
Here, however, much of the trouble was that the waiter did no real waiting at all, leaving the diners - a hen party, a blind date, and a birthday treat for a mother who would rather have been at home watching Casualty - hungry and thirsty.
He was too busy trying to catch the rat which had escaped from the kitchen in what was reminiscent of another familiar scenario - Manuel from Fawlty Towers.
There was, however, a considerable amount of original comedy in the piece, particularly from the pithy lines delivered by Peggy Robinson as Mother.
Marian Harper, as her daughter Sheila, continually poured oil on troubled waters - particularly where her irascible husband (John Desbottes) was concerned.
The hen party grew livelier as the wine flowed, and a blow-up man called Duncan provided much hilarity for the bride and her bridesmaids.
Ali Morris, as Becky, once again showed her comic ability, yet slowly revealed her uncertainty about Becky's forthcoming marriage. Gabriella Brooks and Grace Hopkins aided and abetted her as Clare and Mel.
A nervous Julie is on her first date through the dating agency she has joined, and Jane Bennett's crisp delivery contrasted so well with the nerdy voice of Keith Harper who, as Mike, revealed his experience in the dating game. Puzzled as to why his first dates never progressed we, the audience, soon understood.
Roger Bennett was the broom-wielding, inexperienced waitewr whose French accent was incongruous in an Italian restaurant but who worked hard that the play's lynchpin.
Where three tales are being told in an interlocking manner, pace and snappy take-up of cues is vital, but here both were on the slow side, and the odd dither meant a loss of momentum.
That said, as a home-grown production, it was, like the curate's egg, good in parts.