Secret Bridesmaid's Business - Act 1 Theatre
I really wondered whether I would enjoy a play about the tensions between a bride, her mother and bridesmaids on the eve of a wedding. The pressures of the situation are quite mysterious to a mere male. Personally, most males I know stay as far away from the planning of a wedding as is humanly possible, being more concerned about the sudden responsibilities of marriage than the wedding.
I need not have worried. I was about to see the best production I have seen at Act 1 Theatre in years. Director, Jo Peirce has put together a talented ensemble cast without a weak spot in it.
Colleen, the mother of the bride, played beautifully (if somewhat loudly) by Cheryl Bartlett, is determined that her daughter’s marriage will be perfect, as her own was rather chaotic. She is anxious that her thirty-three year old daughter be married and subsequently with child before her biological clock ticks much longer. It’s also a concern she has passed on to her daughter Meg Ellen Hardisty, who has, after many troubles, found her ideal partner, James, Stewart Kirkland.
Hardisty’s role is a difficult one. In many ways, although the play is about her, the other characters dominate the script. Hardisty was well able to cope with this complex character and Kirkland as her intended husband provided much of the “mere male” comedy of the piece.
The play is largely about the pressures placed on the bridesmaids, Angela, Tegan Devine and Lucy, Susie Omar when they realize that Meg’s intended has been having an affair with one of her best friends. The tension built up between these two was palpable, but to my mind, the underplayed quixotic performance of Devine just managed to steal the show. She is caught between the devil and the deep blue sea when Meg throws Lucy out of her bridesmaid’s job and unwittingly replaces her with the ‘other woman’, Naomi, Monica Lynch. Lynch turns her short stay on stage into an effective and comic delight.
If I have one complaint about the production, it is that there is only slight reference and not a full acknowledgement of the set and lighting designers and crew. I believe that these people are the backbone of a production and deserve full mention in the program, especially those who provided the brilliant women’s costumes. Maybe after seeing the final results of their purple and green efforts the set designers were not willing to have their names associated. Ray Swenson
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