The Cicala Players - Love's a Luxury

The Cicala Players in Love’s a Luxury by Guy Paxton and Edward V Hoile

Staged: 17 and 18 November 1960 at the Rudolf Steiner Theatre Park Road London NW1

Martins Bank Magazine is on top critical form when it reviews the latest offering from the Cicala Players, “Love’s a Luxury”. In a tour-de-force summary of the play, the Magazine’s writer is harsh one minute, kind the next, and you are left wondering whether or not they actually even liked the performance! A slow start eventually leads to the full slapstick potential of the play being unleashed. As it continues the harshness of the review does not seem to fully represent the shows good points, but at least the reviewer does concede that even he himself laughed along with the audience Maybe you just cannot please everybody. Watch out (first image below) for a very dodgy looking false beard, which along with the makeup generally is criticised, and then read on as the author gives a piece of his mind to the producer, who should, apparently “make up her mind, rightly or wrongly, as to the manner in which she wants a part played”. Well done Cicala players for rising above it all…

For their 1960 production the Cicala Players chose “Love's a Luxury”, a farcical comedy by Guy Paxton and Edward V Hoile. It was presented at the Rudolf Steiner Theatre on November 17th and 18th, the producer being Violet Lewsey The plot was so wildly improbable and the situations presented were so riotous that the play was carried along by its own momentum and was ideal for a company, some of whose members were inexperienced. After a somewhat slow start, dictated by the time taken to unfold the plot, the laughs started to come and by the end of the first act the audience was obviously enjoying itself hugely and was in no mood to be critical either of the patent absurdities of the play itself or of any shortcomings on the part of the actors.
What can one say, therefore, when the play was well supported and the audience were obviously given an entertainment which took them away from the cares of the day and left them feeling that they had had a jolly good laugh? For the sake of past achievements, however, and at the risk of going against the tide, one must endeavour to stand apart and make fair and helpful comment, which does not in any way imply that we did not enjoy the show and laugh as hard as anybody. To begin with the sugar, then, we give full marks to Pamela Bodell for as talented and happy an interpretation of the parlour maid as one could have wished. This petite and trim little girl was saucy without being cheeky, provocative without being seductive, and striking without being common.	Pamela Bodell John Collins Clive Hamilton and Hugh Hairs
Pretty as a picture, she tripped about the stage throughout the entire action of the play with poise and a presence which were wholly charming. As a “straight" performance, Mignonne Paice as the jealous wife who was the crux of the whole complicated plot of concealment, was the next most technically perfect. She has appeared in previous productions. The cause of most of the laughter was John Collins who had to impersonate the parlour maid's mother. The acting demanded the wildest slapstick and John gave it them in full measure.
John Collins Pamela Bodell Colin Hunt Susan Feather Clive Hamilton and (on the stairs) Mignonne Paice		One just had to enter into the spirit of the thing and overlook the absurdity and complete impossibility of it all. Quite a small part, but very well done, was that of the parlour maid's real mother, portrayed by Jacqueline Foster. She introduced the one note of sanity and probability into the action. The porter who carried her bag was played by George Kent. He had nothing to say but even his appearance, with handle-bar moustaches, maintained the comic theme. Susan Feather, who joined the cast only three weeks before the production, was to be complimented on the standard of performance she achieved after so short a period of rehearsal.	Mignonne Paice John Collins and Clive Hamilton
Colin Hunt, who has appeared in previous productions, carried off his various comic situations acceptably. especially his “morning after the night before” act. Now for the pill. The producer ought to make up her mind, rightly or wrongly, as to the manner in which she wants a part played. Hugh Hairs, who started by trying to portray an aged eccentric camper, finished up by looking like and impersonating what can only be described as a young beatnik. The beard and make-up were amateurish in the extreme and the portrayal was just a burlesque, a caricature of the part. Nevertheless, in fairness it must be recorded that the audience loved it and entered into the fun of it, and who is to say that he would have achieved greater impact if he had played it as the authors intended? Clive Hamilton is one of the veterans of the Cicala Players and he played the part of the husband whose matrimonial troubles were the cause of the whole mix-up. Occasional hesitancy over his lines and difficulty in appearing as desolate and desperate as the circumstances demanded detracted from what was otherwise a sustained and competent performance.

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