The Cicala Players - The Poltergeist

The Cicala Players in The Poltergeist by Frank Harvey

Staged: 18 to 21 April 1956 at the Chanitcleer Theatre Gloucester Road London

“A very good production indeed” and “A smooth and slick performance” are amongst the bouquets offered to the Cicala Players by Martins Bank Magazine in its Summer 1956 Issue, on the occasion of the group’s staging of “The Poltergeist”. There is new blood amongst the actors, with FOUR new members treading the boards, and it is also noted that there were hardly any problems, or the need to prompt any of the players for forgetting lines. Despite the title conveying something wicked coming our way, the play is very much a comedy, and the Players’ Tony Garland is singled out for special praise as someone who can turn his hand to comedic situations with great ease, and also elicit the maximum laughter from the situation. Anne Brind too, is praised for her comic talent, apparently requiring only a certain look on her face to bring the house down. It is now almost ten years since the Cicala Players staged their first production, and here they are comfortable in the familiar surroundings of the Chanticleer Theatre in London’s Gloucester Road. Just for once, Martins Bank Magazine seems happy with the venue and has no axe to grind regarding attendance, or production losses. Happy Days!

For their Spring show the Cicala Players returned to the Chanticleer Theatre, in Clareville Street, near the Gloucester Road tube Station, a small and intimate theatre with excellent amenities which proved a popular choice when first the Players used it. The play they presented was “The Poltergeist”, by Frank Harvey, and it was staged for four nights, April 18th to 21st. Of the nine parts, four were taken by new members and it speaks well for the producer, Maurice Ryder, late of the Southampton Repertory Society, and for the team work of the company, that the production was well up to the standard of previous productions, with a refreshing absence of prompts or hitches. It was a smooth and slick performance.
Doreen Puddicombe Clive Hamilton Sylvia Shepherd Tony Garland John Cross and Jacqueline Benson		Clive Hamilton Colin Hunt and Anne Brind
Clive Hamilton, as the Vicar in whose house the strange manifestations occur, had a part which suited his quiet and gentle personality perfectly and he gave the best interpretation of any of the parts which we have seen him portray Doreen Puddicombe, as his wife, had the most difficult part of the play. To her fell the task of warming it up convincingly and she found this task a hit beyond her emotionally in the first act, but she proved quite equal to it in the second and third acts. The part of the daughter alleged to be responsible for the poltergeist was played by Sylvia Shepherd. She looked “fey” and she managed to inspire a certain quality of mystery into her acting which was not only convincing hut at times quite alarming. An excellent portrayal. The other daughter was portrayed by Jacqueline Benson, naturally and without exaggeration, a fresh and youthful presentation, just right.
Clive Hamilton and Jim Flatt	The comedy character of the maid, played by Anne Brind, was a riot. She only had to look at the others to raise a laugh, and there was something about the way her hair was done and the way she walked, which brought forth appreciative applause from the audience each time she appeared. It was obvious, of course, that this girl is a bit of a character at Gracechurch Street, where she works, but from the point of view of acting ability the dialect she sustained so admirably was so well done that we had to convince ourselves by hearing her speak naturally before awarding her full marks. Colin Hunt, in a small part as the suitor of one of the Vicar's daughters, made an excellent beginning. His appearance was good, his diction clear, and his manner pleasant and relaxed. Jim Flatt, as the father of a girl who had been the ringleader in an assault on the Vicar's “ Poltergeist ” daughter, made the most of his small part.		Sylvia Shepherd and Jacqueline Benson
He struck the note of deference as between parishioner and priest very convincingly, and his quiet and respectful performance left nothing to be desired. John Cross, as the official poltergeist investigator, had to portray a somewhat airy-fairy far-back character.Although he spoke up well and strongly, we experienced some difficulty in hearing some of his words because of the mannerism he was adopting, but otherwise his performance was well up to his usual standard. Of course, it was Tony Garland, as the insurance assessor, who kept the merriment bubbling. The company has had good comic actors in the past, but none to equal Tony He could take a straight part without anyone realising his potentialities as a comic, but the case with which he slips into parts of widely-different types, stamps him as one of the best and most versatile acquisitions the Players have ever had. His performance in this play had a freshness and vitality which is lacking in some professionals and to watch him was as good as a tonic. A very good production indeed.

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