Aerial photograph of Barnard Castle
Price:£7.99
Last of the Summer Wine - Darlington Civic Theatre
Nov 16, 2009
LASTof the Summer Wine is one of those classic British comedies that has followed the recent trend transferring into the theatre with a production entitled ‘The Moonbather’ written by Roy Clarke.
The story follows the expected three of Foggy (John Pennington), Compo, (Harry Dickman) and Clegg (Timothy Kightley), who all give convincing performances of the on screen characters. Foggy attempts to romance the meek Samantha (Gillian Axtell) but is hampered by the overbearing sister Meg (Ruth Madoc) and the antics of Compo. The night’s events are not helped by the obsessive attempts by the local policeman, Gifford Bewmont (Steven Pinder), to capture the streaker lurking around the village. T
he pace of this production is incredibly slow, with short scenes and many scene changes, which does give the feel that you are in a television studio and they are recording it slowly scene by scene. Ruth Madoc’s enthusiastic performance and Steven Pinder’s caricature policeman provided some of the best moments, although they are certainly over the top. Although this production has not transferred to the stage as well as previous television hits there are many great one liners to look out for in this gentle farce.
A J Harrison