Ring around the Moon

By Jean Anouilh, translated by Christopher Fry, directed by Philip de Glanville

19th – 21st November 2015

It was always going to be risky, doing a play from the early 50’s which very few Frome people had heard of or knew much about. To be fair, a couple of people told me they had been around for the original Peter Brook production and said they still remembered it with great affection, but then someone else unkindly pointed out that the author’s name was “just another word for ‘boring’ in English”, which rather took the wind out of my sails!

However we had read it with great enthusiasm at one of our play readings a year or so before and, as a result, auditions were certainly very well attended. We had too few roles to match the numbers of those auditioning which is, of course, bittersweet – offering a part to one but turning down several others.

But what about the play? Well, it was everything it promised to be; light and frothy and very charming, but with quite a satisfying amount of satirical bite, adding up to make “a deliciously wise romantic comedy”, as one newspaper reviewer notwithstanding a rather clunky opening night. Fortunately it picked up nicely for our second performance and was flying along for the final one on Saturday night. It looked gorgeous, because Matt Tipper’s lighting of the very simple set was enchanting, and because Carol Lewis’s costumes were exceptionally good. The soundscape of music which Simon Bowman had created was utterly delightful, and the cast were splendid. They worked extremely well together and the acting was of a very high standard across the board. Our audiences certainly seemed to have enjoyed it, judging by the happy faces in the foyer afterwards, and there was lots of laughter during the performances. So, I think we can chalk it up as another success for the Club! Onwards and upwards…

Philip de Glanville