Committed Quiche

Committed Quiche
“Fully Committed” by Becky Mode, directed by Shane Mallory and “5 Lesbians Eating a Quiche” by Andrew Hobgood and Evan Linder, directed by Kate Mallory. Ipswich Little Theatre Society. Ipswich Little Theatre, 22 November – 9 December, 2017

Ipswich Little Theatre has all the hallmarks of a community theatre: a great vibe among the audience, lovely, friendly venue staff and even an exciting raffle draw at interval. The thing that sets them apart is their obvious dedication to a very high standard of production. Ipswich Little Theatre aims for a professional standard and succeeds.

Their latest show, Committed Quiche treated us to two great one-act-plays: Fully Committed and 5 Lesbians Eating a Quiche. Choosing an excellent script is the first step to a great production, so they kicked a goal by selecting two tried and tested, hit comedies.

Fully Committed saw actor/director Shane Mallory seamlessly slip between a myriad character voices. He played a besieged actor who mans a reservations hotline for a ‘day job’ as well playing all of the callers and fellow employees of one of Manhattan’s most popular restaurants.

Mallory showed amazing memory skills and energy throughout the hour-and-a-half long one-hander. Each of his characters had distinct accents, vocal tones and mannerisms. He had good comic timing and was a joy to watch. There wasn’t a dull moment through his focussed and fast-paced performance.

Set design was clever, with well placed props that gave Mallory a chance to add dynamic movement to his performance. Lighting by Phil Holmes was effective and kudos must go to him for handling the millions of sound effect cues in the script. If I were to be super picky, one or two phone calls were answered a second before the ringing stopped, but honestly, my hat goes off to anyone who can take care of the amount of phone calls, buzzers and mobile rings in that script.

After we sadly missed out on winning a giant Toblerone and nine other fun prizes in the massive interval raffle, we were treated to 5 Lesbians Eating a Quiche – and what a tasty treat it was!

It’s perfect timing, given the recent change in marriage laws, to see the story of quiche loving lesbians during an atomic crisis in 1956. The talented cast of ladies (Liz Ball as Luli, Vivienne Abitia as Vern, Katie Dowling as Wren, Rebecca Noble as Dale and Alizah Pomery as Ginny) had great comic timing and characterisation, clearly relishing the hilarious script. They worked very well together, not simply taking their personal moments to shine, but also lifting each other up. Audience interactions were fun and the ladies improvised well with the crowd. They showed a lot of bravery and weren’t afraid to take risks.

Kate Mallory’s costume designs, hair and make-up were on point and period appropriate. You could see they’d gone the extra mile to get the hair styling in particular just right. Set design was also accurate for the era and had the perfect amount of detail. Special effects, especially the squib were excellent.

The thing I loved most about Committed Quiche was the audience reaction. It’s such a joy to sit in a room full of people who are laughing harder than they’ve laughed all year. Everyone was engrossed in both shows and experienced that magical escapism that makes theatre-going such an addictive experience.

Kiesten McCauley

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