Centre Stage (...to the left a little)

Centre Stage (...to the left a little) a well written play performed by an excellent cast. I wasn't sure how a play written by two people would work and thought it might be a bit uneven jumping from one writer to the other and back, but it was seamless flowed really well and every scene was of the same high standard.

One or two moments of pathos balanced the comedy element extremely well and I really felt for Priscilla the anorexic dancer pushed into the theatre by a mother who couldn't even be bothered to come and see her [well that was how I saw her].

I will look out for more plays by these two promising young playwrights.

Centre Stage (...to the left a little) is the first offering from Paul Swaine and Sally Lawton and their production company 'Think big presents' , both ex-Salford uni students. They had bravely decided to tackle the trickiest of genres, comedy, fortunately their gamble paid off, it was laugh out loud funny.

The play revolves around a ballet and the people involved in its performance, largely around its 'supporting artistes,' Extras. You may be thinking you have seen something similar in Ricky Gervais' Extras but this is far more subtle. In many places it has beautiful poignant, moving moments and it has an undercurrant of morals, tackling many hard issues such as the meaning of love, loneliness and alcoholism. Many comedy writers would shy away from such subjects but when interspersed with the hilarious narrator character Lydia Mould it works so well.

Lydia is one of the extras 'number one fan' and she quite honestly steals the show. Played by one of the writers Sally Lawton every time she appears you could feel the audience gasp with anticipation, in wait for one of her one-liners. Despite Lydia stealing many of the laughs the stage time is shared very equally by the twelve strong cast and what a cast they are! They have a wealth of theatre and TV experience.

Sally Lawton who plays the narrator role Lydia Mould and co-wrote the play has been in theatre productions from 'The wizard of oz' to 'The tempest'. I also discovered from their website Thinkbigpresents.co.uk that she has two books in the pipeline. It is obvious from the show that whether she pursues acting, writing, producing or all of the above, she has the raw talent to succeed.

The very handsome, Paul Swaine,who plays the hilariously named Gary Whilmot is the co-writer of the production, he has TV and theatre credits that include 'Childrens Ward' and 'Brookside'. Paul's character Gary, together with Chrissy Hoey as Kimberley Sawyer, are the love story of the piece. Despite a comedy of errors the two get together much to the relief of the audience! He too displays raw talent and is one to watch out for.

Pricilla Hargreaves (played by Sam Sidall) provides the most touching scenes,she is the 'star', the ballet dancer lead, over-protected by the crew to the extent that no-one will speak to her. Pricilla displays such a fragility and vulnerability that it moves you to places that most comedies would fear to tread. Sam has acting credits that include 'Shameless' and 'Cutting it'. Once again proving what a well together cast has been assembled.

Ash Tandon plays Jimmy Healy, the musical relief of the piece, and has starred in Coronation Street, A&E, and Curry Flava amongst many plays and radio pieces. Jimmy helps Ted Dibble (John Keane) realise he has a drink problem due to the break up of his marriage, again touching stuff.

Maurice Anderson played by Hylton Collins provides the camp, fun, element as the Stylist, Hylton's former body of work includes 'Educating Rita' and 'Macbeth' on the stage and 'The Bill' and 'Emmerdale' for TV. and when coupled with the equally camp luvvie William Prince-White (played by Mark Butcher, course leader of performing arts at Salford college) hilarity ensues, innuenndos galore!

Barbra Cousins as Vanya Zlatica the director of the 'show'. Caro Breton as Rita Suarez, the has-been actress. Chris Wright as Christian Peters the born again christian and Rachel Burke-Davies, as the true to life chav character, Tracy Dobson round of the excellent cast. All truly talented, comedic performers, with such vast experience in so many fields.

With so many Hollywood actors coming to England to the West End and such established actors as these treading the boards in Manchester, I think it's time to turn the TV off and go see a show especially if you see the names Paul Swaine or Sally Lawton. Mark my words...