THE Holsworthy Amateur Theatrical Society have been presenting a double bill of plays by two of England’s foremost modern playwrights since Thursday, May 19, writes Christine Williams.

Kay Napier, making her director’s debut for HATS, has assembled a talented cast, some of whom appear in both plays.

‘Black Comedy’ is a farce by Peter Shaffer in which struggling artist Brindsley Miller and his fiancée Carol have arranged a party and have ‘borrowed’ the furniture and effects of a neighbour in order to class up their flat and impress Carol’s bombastic father, Colonel Melkett, and millionaire Georg Bamberger, who, they hope, may buy some of Brindsley’s sculptures.

At a critical moment the main fuse blows, plunging the flat into darkness. What follows is a frantic romp with unexpected visitors, mistaken identities, and plenty of surprises.

The ingenious device of light reversal ensures that only the audience can see all the fumbling in the dark as the characters grope their way around with chaotic, disastrous and very funny results.

Stuart Napier as Brindsley expends a vast amount of energy as he tries to cope with disaster after disaster and Terina Ellacott plays his empty-headed fiancée Carol, referred to by her father as ‘dumpling’.

Peter Whitehead brings a fitting military bearing to his portrayal of the bombastic Colonel Melkett and Lesley Wonnacott is a hoot as the prim neighbour, Miss Furnival, as she descends into alcoholic stupor.

With his gestures and facial expressions Stuart Davey is splendid as the camp and fussy antiques-obsessed Harold Gorringe.

Sarah Leach gives a fine performance as Clea, Brindsley’s previous mistress. Finally Mike Wonnacott plays German electrician Schuppanzigh, who arrives to mend the fuse and is mistaken for millionaire German art collector Bamberger, played by Josh Waters.

The entertainment continues after the interval with Tom Stoppard’s ‘The Real Inspector Hound’, a hilarious spoof of Agatha Christie-style detective mysteries.

It also parodies the role of theatre critics, whose pompous reviews are often coloured by their private lives and personal obsessions.

It is set in a theatre where two critics have come to review a ‘whodunnit’, set in the isolated country-house, Muldoon Manor.

Peter Whitehead as the pompous, verbose Moon and Stuart Davey as the lascivious Birdboot are the critics who, after commenting on the action, become sucked into the play within a play.

Terina Ellacott as Cynthia Muldoon, the glamorous mistress of the house, and Ellie Skuse as her friend, the charming, bubbly Felicity are rivals for the love of Simon, a mysterious stranger, played by Mike Wonnacott.

He and Magnus, a menacing brother-in-law in a wheelchair, are rivals for the love of Cynthia.

Greatly adding to the humour is the charlady, Mrs Drudge, delightfully played by Denise Moorley.

Finally, Martin Jordan as Inspector Hound in a Sherlock Holmes get-up, arrives on the scene and is the first to notice a corpse lying on the floor and may or may not be the Real Inspector Hound? It’s complicated, but great fun!

David Moorley and his team have created two fine sets; a 1960s London flat, which morphs into a drawing room in Muldoon Manor during the interval and the lighting team deserve praise, especially in ‘Black Comedy’ which requires darkness to fall wherever a character flicks his lighter or turns on a flashlight.

Congratulations were extended to the cast of both plays on some fine acting and to the director for successfully rising to the challenge of staging these two demanding plays.

Members of the audience left the theatre with beaming expressions on their faces, indicating they may have been puzzled by what they had seen, but had spent a thoroughly entertaining evening. The plays continue until Saturday, May 28. Don’t miss them!