Accommodation provides some welcome relief
About the article
This is a digitised version of an article from The Cayman Compass's print archive. Occasionally, the digitisation process introduces transcription errors, or other problems.
See the article in its original context from November 2001.
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After a difficult week at work, preceded by an even more difficult week of vacation, the last thing I wanted was a night assignment. But there I was on Tuesday, 7.30 pm, at the technical rehearsal of Accommodation, the Cayman Drama Society show advertised as a "romantic comedy".
My vacation had been spent rescuing my yard from the ravages of a rain-ladentropical depression that turned into Hurricane Michelle. So with a tension headache from recent local and international news, plus back pain from extended use of a bow saw invented before the era of ergonomics, all I wanted on Tuesday night was to go home and go to bed. I figured I could stop in at the Prospect Theatre, take some quick shots and leave.
It didn't work out that way. I soon found that I was drawn to the play's four characters and intrigued by the situation in which they found themselves. I became sufficiently engrossed in what was happening that I forgot to lift my camera and take a picture.
The humour was fresh and seemed to flow naturally. Before the first scene ended, I had smiled. By the second act I was chuckling. When a stock comedy device was employed in the third act, I was totally unprepared and laughed out loud in spite of myself.
Accommodation starts out with as plausible a premise as could be expected for a three-act comedy. Simply, there is a small apartment shared by Pat, Lee and Tracy. With such unisex names they could be three men, three women or any combination thereof. (Fortunately Lee's husband, Bob, is unambiguous.)
Playwright Nick Hall presents stereotypical ideas of sexism and personal fulfilment in untypical ways, showing how all four characters respond to each other and learn about themselves in the process. Accommodation is, after all, not only where we live but how, and how we get along with each other. Solid cast
Director Malcolm Ellis describes his cast as CONT'D ON FACING PAGE FROM FACING PAGE "dedicated people who put in a lot of hours". He can take credit for choosing a play with characters that are more than one-dimensional, then letting his actors flesh them out.
I have watched Wendy Moore on stage since she was in high school, so I was not surprised by her strong performance as Lee, the estranged wife. From Educating Rita and Guys and Dolls at the old Inn Theatre, to CDS' more recent Camelot and Side by Side by Sondheim, Wendy makes any role her own.
Kevin Redfern is Lee's husband who can't understand why she would leave him. Kevin has consistently impressed audiences with his singing and he worked with Wendy in both Camelot and Sondheim.
It is therefore a tribute to his acting skills that, when he embraced his wife in an effort to win her back, I did not automatically expect him to break into song. On the other hand, two productions of Forever Plaid did hint at Kevin's flair for comedy, so I should not have been surprised.
Vanessa Hansen is already well-known from her work on CITN plus roles in previous CDS shows, including Key for Two, Wizard of Oz, Robin Hood, Cry in the Night. She has now graduated from a variety of roles in several plays to a variety of roles within a single character. Then there's Tim Kelly. If this handsome, well-spoken, quietly confident young man doesn't get the post-highschool set interested in live theatre there is little hope any one else can.
During the technical rehearsal there was one overlong interlude and one scene that seemed to need some tightening. I say "seemed" because I personally am uncomfortable watching people get drunk, even when they're pretending. If some adjustments were necessary, I suspect Malcolm sorted them out by opening night.
The "drinking" scene, by the way, is redeemed by the "morning after' scene. They each contribute to an ending that is both satisfying and believable.
During the long drive home afterwards, I thought about all the work by members of the cast and always essential backstage crew in order to provide enjoyment for audiences that deserve a couple of hours of relaxation.
And I realised something: my headache was gone.
