The Cracked Pot

Grassington Players took to the stage for three nights last week performing Blake Morrison’s “The Cracked Pot”. The comedy, set in an early nineteenth century Court House in Skipton, opens with the central character Judge Adam (Mark Bamforth) emerging from his slumbers battered and bruised to be advised by his Clerk Mr Bright (Leslie Kerkham) that a High Court Judge from Manchester is about to visit for a sort of impromptu Ofsted inspection. The arrival of the Judge in time for a Court case in which two families are disputing the circumstances surrounding the breaking of a pot jug provides the opportunity for the truth about Judge Adams’ battered appearance to be established. This was a thoroughly enjoyable production, Jane Ellison-Bates who has emerged in recent years as a very talented Director, captured the atmosphere of a dingy Court House with a set that made use of both the stage and the hall floor, characters coming in from behind the audience giving one the feeling of being part of the action. Mark Bamforth’s performance as the wily Judge Adam was in my opinion outstanding, capturing the essence of the character in every facet of the performance. There were strong performances from Andrew Jackson (Judge Walter) and Leslie Kerkham which made for some memorable comic exchanges throughout. The litigants, headed by the excellent Paula Vickers as Martha the aggrieved owner of the broken jug, also included two young actors Will Davidson (Leslie) and Catherine Wynn (Eve) who gave very creditable debut performances, on occasions both struggled with voice projection from the stage but must take great credit for their contributions to this production. Nice cameo performances from Lorraine Paylor (Meg), Edwin Williams (Tommy) and Sue Clement (Aunt Bridget) added to the quality of the entertainment. Additional clever touches to this production included the provision of paupers fare (bread, cheese and apple) served to the audience in the interval and a glossary of tyke dialect words used in the play, contained in the programme. Finally, the skills of the make up team in producing the most convincing “injuries” to the bald pate of Judge Adam were, in my view, along with a number of aspects of this production, to a professional standard.

• Type: user
• Performance Date: 26/04/2012
• Star rating: 12345