As regional theatres reopen after the long and difficult pandemic enforced closure which has hit their fragile finances very hard many continue to speculate about will they survive and how do they attract new audiences. Some have embraced digital media to stay connected to their audiences and formed new partnerships to creatively produce. One such grouping is the venues of Lawrence Batley Theatre, Oxford Playhouse, The Dukes in Lancaster, and The Watermill Theatre in Newbury who have co-produced ( together with the support of 11 other regional venues) this wonderful “Play for Today”, a comedy that reflects on the recent events and challenges and trials of staging theatre. It is a sort of Jackie Weaver’s council meeting meets “The Play that goes wrong” but is written and produced so much better than that!
Going The Distance is a new play (not to be confused with films that have gone before with the same title) written by Henry Filloux-Bennett and Yasmeen Khan and is an insightful, truthful, and engaging comedy about a small regional theatre trying to survive and the people whose lives revolve around it. Anyone involved in regional theatre or amateur theatre will recognise the collection of misfits and egos who come together to do what one character observes as “telling stories is the best job in the world” and wonders how to get people to “come in and see the magic that happens here”.
Set in the Matchborough Community Theatre, the small committee, down to the last three months funds, decide to try and save the venue by putting on a fundraising production of “Wizard”, inspired by, but for rights purposes certainly not based, on The Wizard of Oz. Although since it included the red shoes, munchkins and Over the Rainbow. they may well have breached any copyright! It is a beautifully paced and acted production and very well captured and edited by Dennis Madden and James Rees and perfectly lit by designer Jack Weir. They demonstrate that they have learned how to embrace digital media and produced a delightfully watchable 75-minute film under the direction of Felicity Montagu. At the same time, they capture the feel of live theatre, especially in the comically tragic transformation scene.It is also very well cast with a great lineup of actors perfectly capturing the insecurities and creative tensions that people bring to the production of a play. Penny Ryder is charmingly dotty as Treasurer Maggie who to save funds has to stand in as the Wicked witch, drawing on her long past stage successes. Matthew Kelly is the bumbling ineffectual Committee chair and stage director Frank bringing out the pathos and comedy of the character with Shobna Gulati as his estranged wife Vic who has adapted the film for the stage. Sarah Hadland revels in her egotistical controlling comic role as The Management, Rae. Sarah Crowe has the well-observed cameo role of Em, the local radio presenter more interested in how they feel and their personal lives than promoting the show. Nicole Evans is gloriously over the top as the Prima Donna, the only professional actor in the cast, Billie. Stephen Fry as the Narrator gives the whole production a fly on the wall documentary feel linking the scenes.
If anything, the real joy of the piece is the performances of Merch Husey as Kem, a local shopkeeper and his employee, Gail, wonderfully played by Emma McDonald. Their relationship is skilfully and charmingly developed, touching too on the grief that so many families have experienced during lockdown.There is a strong supporting cast of auditionees, ballet dancers and Munchkins who added to rich diverse comic feel with digs about corporate sponsorship and equality and diversity issues that must be such a focus of these regional venues post lockdown.
The message of the play may be that there “is no place like home” but it reinforces the equally powerful message that there is no pleasure like the escapism offered by live theatre. They reflect that “theatre can never be like it was” but it is our hope that these new creative collaborations will lead to it being even better and more financially sustainable as they learn to adjust the ways of working and embrace digital to engage audiences to attract them back into the venues.
Review by Nick Wayne
Rating: ★★★★★
Seat: Online until 17th October | Price of Ticket: £15
