August 23rd, 2008
We went along to see Born in the Garden starring Stephanie Cole and Simon Shepherd at the Cambridge Arts Theatre yesterday evening. A play about Maud and her son Mo who live in a decaying mock Tudor house in Bristol. She chats to people on the telly, he converses with the cat and both share a penchant for bizarre cocktails, tinned food and keeping the past alive. The theatre itself had quite a few empty seats in the Circle and the audience were predominantly older than the two of us and were of the ‘nose in the air’ variety. Although the acting was good, especially by Stephanie Cole, we unfortunately found the play boring. Peter Nichols wrote this in 1979 and it was described as hilarious on the advert outside the theatre. We didn’t find it that funny despite trying with a couple of added G&T’s and brandies along the way. There would be the occasional chuckle from Dusty but for me I just couldn’t get into it at all. Sorry Stephanie; your agent needs to get you better scripts.
Rating. 2 Stars.
Posted in Arts and Entertainment
I think that Peter Nichols is one of our greatest playwrights (at a time when there are more great living British playwrights than at any time – discuss!). Born in the Gardens is one of his very best plays and I thought that this production was even better than the original; I thought Stephanie was perfect in that she managed to convey the impression that, all along, she really knew perfectly well what was going on – her totally dotty act suits both her and Maurice. Mavellous.