It became apparent, after leaving the Seaton Town Hall, that the Seaton Dama Group had taken some care when choosing the two one act plays that it presented on the same evening, for they dove tailed well tegether, both being laced with humour and both a little thought-provoking.

Coincidentally, they included outstanding performance by both their female leads.

Val Christmas' performance as the "dumpy, frumpy and grumpy" staff nurse Kitty in "Pity About Kitty" was one of real quality. She played the labourer at the sharp end with no thoughts outside the doing of her job the best way she could, well indeed. Her diction was of high quality, her narration flowed and her overall acting was not inhibited by the fact that she spent much of her time seated. As to her choice of headgear, now that was something else!

Janet Potter played the role of Sister Betty Strong, with some conviction. She too displayed good diction and was most believable as the angel of mercy, one time friend of Kitty and now her opponent at the tribunal. She certainly had taken steps to cover her own back and who, rather hypocritically, threw her chum to the wolves in order to preserve her own skin and reputation.

Then there were the members of the tribunal, set up to discover the facts about the alleged misconduct. While there were rather wooden performances by the two undertaking the roles of Lance Woodley and Counsellor Dingle, there were certainly strong ones from their colleagues.

Debbie Bradley gave a useful one in her portrayal of the Senior Nursing Officer, one who was living a little in the past and one who was perhaps out of touch with the current demands of the job, to very good effect. Her priorities seemingly had shifted from patient care to preserving the good name of the establishment which she served.

Mick Redston played Sir Cuthbert, the chairman, and one who had little real idea of the conditions obtaining at the time the tragic misdemeanour took place. He dominated the proceedings well, hinting one or two hidden agendas of his own along the way.

"Pity About Kitty" was a most suitable play to stage, to perform in and to view. The set was minimalist and the lighting most effective. I only hope our Kitty made an appeal, and furthermore won it!

"Blame It On The Bourbons" was set in a rather higher strata, socially speaking that is. The denizens of Wysteria Lodge, a retirement home for gentlefolk, were dominated by Countess Beatrice (Elina Baker) who by word, deed , and seemingly, thought gave all the impression that God was indeed an Englishwoman. She, and through her the shade of her late husband, the Commander, reduced all others to subservience in a way that was most believable and her two sidekicks, blind Constance (Mary Bowles) and Leticia (Elizabeth Barlow) initially seemingly had no minds of their own and certainly had no way of coping with this compact armoured division in their midst.

The former contributed much by her measured words and movements that typifies the unsighted, while the latter became the mouse that roared by the end.

The job of Matron would bave been an unenviable one in the circumstances but Rachel Weber made the most of it keeping cheerful in adversity with an Irish acctnt to help her and probably saying daily quiet prayers for the removal of the affliction.

I belive that the definition of a catalyst is that it is a substance that produces a change in others while remaining inert itself, in which case it does not fit Jim Cleverley's role of Albert. He did however portray most ably the quiet polite Yorkshireman who, nevertheless, had more than enough steel about him to cope with the Countess' truculence and also inside knowledge to make her admit that most about her was a sham.

It seemed at the finale, that an alliance between these two was not unlikely and that Wysteria Lodge would, in the immediate future, become a rather more exciting place because of it.

Stage in the presence of its writer, Brian Langtry, "Blame It On The Bourbons" seemed to be an excellent foil to the play that had preceeded it and together they make for a most enjoyable evening out.

Production: Directors-Phil Christmas, Janet Potter
Stage Manager and Crew-Ian Danby, Yvonne Horton
Set-Phil Christmas
Props-Panic Design, Yvonne Horton
Lighting-Linda Stone
Sound Effects-Norman Bowles
Prompt-Carole Samouelle, Rita Cleverley
Front of House-Dennis Morgan and team
Refreshments-Mavis Motson, Janet Seward and team