AMATEUR dramatics at its worst – ham acting, over-reliance on prompt, out-of-time sound effects, last minute replacements, terrible lighting, mistake after mistake… Farndale Avenue Ladies would get such dire reviews; Lymington Players certainly won’t while they produce sharp, well-crafted comedy-oferrors like this (under Hazel Gibbs’ excellent direction). The audience thoroughly appreciated every verbal and visual blooper, all extremely well timed.

Virtually impossible to single out one performance over another, each actor was super as instantly identifiable characters (every Society will recognise them!) taking on different roles in the play within a play; it takes great skill to be so intentionally mediocre! However, the three witches (Francesca Farrow, Sally Kavanagh and Moira Trillo (revelling in the indomitable spirit of ‘the show must go on’ with everincreasing appendages) brought particular panache to their multiple roles.

Special mention should also be made for Peter Wagstaffe’s eleventhhour heroics, showing how even with a play-within-a-play, life imitates art!

Lymington Players Malt Hall Theatre, Lymington Community Centre