This Is Cheshire

COMIC CAPERS COME TO TOWN

From the Guardian Series, first published Thursday 4th Oct 2001.

A new season full of comedy at Knutsford Little Theatre kicked off in style with a hat-trick of humour.

Three one-act plays were the focus of the night's entertainment with John Clarke opening the show in Alan Bennett's A Chip in the Sugar.

Clarke played Graham Whittaker, a man full of wit and humour, who spent most of his time chatting to the audience about his elderly mothers from the comfort of an armchair on the stage.

In true Bennett-style he shared his thoughts, feelings and fears with total strangers and managed to keep them mesmerised throughout his performance.

Hard-hitting

Harold Pinter's play, Black and White, although notably shorter, had the audience in fits of laughter with Anne Frumin and Margaret Wilde playing bag ladies enjoying a spot of lunch.

The finale, Anton Chekov's The Proposal, came as somewhat of a surprise to the audience who had expected a hard-hitting performance.

Instead they were treated to 30 minutes of side-splitting humour courtesy of Mike Butterworth, Sarah Mann and James Broughton, who played father, daughter and prospective son-in-law in a play peppered with disagreements.

A special mention much go to Sarah, who was brilliant as Natalia Stepanove - a girl who enjoyed arguing with a man she did not realise was about to propose to her.

As the audience filed out of the tiny theatre, many clearly had high hopes of what is to come.

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