I was back in my flat in England Thursday evening, lounging on the couch in front of the TV, captivated by an English drama. At least that’s what it seemed like, as I watched Echo Players’ season opener, Separate Tables, at the Village Theatre.
Separate Tables is written by acclaimed English playwright Terrance Rattigan and made up of two one-act plays, Table by the Window and Table Number Seven, set in a private hotel in Bournemouth, England.
The play opens with a scene in the dining room and I couldn’t help but smile at the perfect little set complete with rows of tables, a finely stocked wall cabinet, and quaint furnishings very reminiscent of an English hotel.
The hotel’s permanent residents sit at their tables in their fine dinner clothes, making small talk in their wonderful, pretentious accents, throwing around a bit of humour but mostly setting the stage for some drama.
In waltzes a primped Mrs. Shankland, played superbly by Aviva Fox, and the chatter ceases. She’s dressed to the nines and is the perfect subject for some old gossiping hotel guests. When hotel resident Mr. Fowler ‚ a disgraced politician‚ enters, the drama begins. Mrs. Shankland is his ex-wife and they have clearly had a tumultuous relationship still seething with emotion.
Although this act goes a bit long, each actor seems very well suited to their role and does an admirable job remembering their many lines.
Geoff Jenkins does a bang-up job of playing Mr. Fowler and he and Fox conjure up some great chemistry between their characters. The hotel residents were very believable and I also loved the waitresses who played their roles to a T and brought back vivid memories of classic disinterested and curt servers in England.
The set was masterfully done, led by set designer Ian Taylor. Between scenes, when the stage team loaded all the tables onto a revolving platform and spun it around to reveal a beautiful lounge on the other side, the audience broke into applause.
Table Number Seven takes place in the same hotel, two years later, and has some of the same characters.
Fox doesn’t disappoint in her very different role as a self-conscious and mentally unstable 30-something. Aileen Fabris, who does a splendid job playing the same hotel resident in both acts, takes more of a central role in Table Number Seven as a well-meaning but overbearing mother. Echo Players president Paul Churchill does well in his role as a retired soldier who likes to tell stories. Controversy ensues when Fabris’ character digs up a scandal about him.
Although controversy and turmoil fill the hotel in the two acts, one character‚Äîthe hotel owner Mrs. Cooper (played skillfully by Lynn Beamond)‚Äîgrounds the characters and reminds us that emotion is a part of life and therefore drama is inevitable. But it can be dealt with and extinguished in a calm and wise manner by strong and stable individuals. Mrs. Cooper’s character injects an implicit theme of tolerance and empathy and left me musing about the strong women in my life.
Don’t miss Separate Tables at the Village Theatre in Qualicum Beach, playing Wednesday through Saturday evenings and Sunday afternoons until Oct. 28. Tickets are $18, $15 for seniors and $10 for students. Stop by the box office in Qualicum Beach during office hours at 110 West 2nd Ave, or call 250-752-3522 or email info@echoplayers.ca for tickets.
