Foxton Little Theatre

In the News

The Christmas Spirit 2009; Directed by Carl Terry

Sisters 2009; Directed by Colleen O'Leary

"Fun show by a hard-working bunch"

The Tribune; Saturday, 9 May 2009. Review by David Collins

Foxton Little Theatre may not have the biggest stage, but they sure know how to fit a lot on it. The set for Sisters - complete with wood stove, bunk beds, and kitchen (actually plumbered) - is as good an example as they've ever given. Written by Lucy Schmidt and Alison Quigan, Sisters opens with Connie arriving at the family bach the day before her 50th birthday. Looking to be on her own, away from her husband and daughter - and her two sisters - she's hoping to "celebrate" her birthday, which happens to coincide with a more unfortunate anniversary. But her plans for solitude quickly come to ruin. First, with the the presence of a local farmer, Francis and his son; and again with the intrusion of her sisters, who are determined not to leave whether Connie wants them to or not. The writing isn't perfect - veering from fart jokes to exposition, rarely doing both humour and story at the same time. But despite these less than satisfying aspects, the passion of players did a great job at compensating. While riffs between the sisters often dragged (suffering from a lack of sharp cues), individually they were more than capable. Carolyn Allan as Margaret, the sensible one, complained and lectured the others, while Linda Jarvis took to the irrevenent Yvonne with gusto (not-to-mention a lot of rum). The real delight, however, was certainly the scenes between Connie and Francis (played by Stephanie Thomas and Carl Terry respectively). Connie goes through a plethora of emotions during the play and Thomas handled herself well throughout. Terry may not be on stage often, but it was no less a good performance, capturing that understated and unassuming Crump-type bloke persona perfectly. Sisters is another fun show by the hard-working and committed members of the society, and worth the effort to go and see. To be sure, there were some opening night nerves, but by the end the play was humming. A couple more performances under their belts and it should easily sing.