Love Rides the Rails.

Passion; greed; goodness; villainy- the basic elements of melodrama are all present in Blackwood Players’ entertaining production of Moreland Cary’s Love Rides the Rails.

Director Erik Strauts has changed the play’s setting somewhat in that the railroad at the heart of the story is the Blackwood, Belair and Bridgewater Railroad.

Dashing, upstanding hero, Truman Pendennis fights evil in a life and death struggle against dastardly, greedy villain, Simon Darkway. Our hero must save the railroad and earn the hand of lovely and innocent heroine, Miss Prudence Hopewell.

Amongst the cast, James Barbary stands out as having a clear understanding of the energy levels, exaggerated mannerisms, comic timing and over-the-top acting that makes melodrama work. His performance as the villain’s accomplice, Dirk Sneath, is excellent. If all actors involved could lift to the energy levels and pace of Barbary this production could rise from quite good to a real winner.

Jarrod Chave is very good as the hero, Truman Pendennis. As the villain, Damien White is suitably evil and dastardly but could exaggerate this even more to encourage greater audience participation.

Heroine, Prudence is delightfully played by Rosie Williams, though her presentation requires much more volume in the large hall. Kay Kelly Lindbergs’ Widow Hopewell is very well done, though also requiring more volume.

As Madam Carlotta Cortez, Anita Canala is another who needs more projection, though the character is well-defined. Jabez Retallick, as the hero’s friend, Harold Standfast, needs to exaggerate his character more; he is too realistic in style for a melodrama.

On opening night, despite the efforts of the enthusiastic cast, the production lacked pace, particularly in the first half. The prime reason for this was the time it took for the chorus to prepare itself for the interlude of songs between each scene. Sitting at one of the cabaret tables with the audience, the singers spent precious seconds rising from their chairs, moving forward to the stand in front of the stage, and then shuffling into position. This sucked impetus from the story and dropped the energy levels in the hall. Perhaps having the chorus sitting on chairs in position and simply needing to stand to immediately begin singing would correct this issue of scene transition.

The chorus comes amongst the audience to encourage participation by the patrons and this will be necessary at every performance, particularly where the numbers are small. It is vital for the success of the show, as is a lift in overall pace.

Costumes, lighting and sound are excellent and it is good to see Blackwood Players experimenting with set design and doing it well.   

Rebecca Stinson is a competent pianist in supporting the singers.

Overall, this is an entertaining production from an enthusiastic group of players.

Lesley Reed