Farndale Avenue … A Christmas Carol

The “girls” were at it again.... The members of The Farndale Avenue Housing Estate Town’s Women Guild Dramatic Society decided to present Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol with the usual dysfunctional results.

Joan Stalker Brown obviously had a ‘ball’ at rehearsals with this odd assortment of characters in the hands of the 5 ‘well intentioned’ members of the Guild.

The talented cast of Laney McLean, Linda Simister, Sonia Wagstaff, Tony Hall and Steve Silansky between them, tackled 24 characters.

Amid attempts to draft audience members to replace several of the performers delayed due to traffic, the show began to gather speed not unlike a snowball careering down a hill.

The script gave everyone the opportunity to overplay to the hilt including regular interference from the local taxi drivers, police and talk-back radio via faulty audio equipment.

The clever use of slides projected onto the back-drop made scene changes very easy and with the assistance of the ladies “handy work” in making ALL the props; this show had all the trappings of a genuine “Farndale Avenue” presentation.

Roger McKenzie