Second From Last in the Sack Race by David Nobbs (Adapted by Michael Birch) - Ezra and others

- Swan Theatre, Worcester. Directed by Mark Babych.

Lots of different parts in this rather unimaginative production of a semi-autobiographical play by David Nobbs, all of them pretty much caricatures, some working better than others. The main part was Ezra, the father of our young hero Henry Pratt (played with a lovely observation of the traits of childhood by the excellent Steven Swift). Ezra wasn't a bad part, with some depth to him, and Steve and the other cast were all fine actors and good fun to work with.

I played several other characters too, for the short time they appeared on-stage. Taff the Laff was a truly dreadful Welsh stand-up comedian whose rapid music-hall patter was counter-pointed by the utter terror in his eyes at the non-reaction of his audience. Lampo Davey was a very camp and rather sweet school-friend of Henry's, who performed a strange toga-clad dance at one point. And Geoffrey Porringer was a bluff, coarse northen businessman with a lecherous eye and a penchant for not-very-subtle double-entendres. And there were several others too including terrible magician 'The Amazing Illingworth'!

"John Flitcroft, Jennifer Luckcraft, Jon Glentoran and Donna Lythgoe deserve high praise as they work their way through the dozens of characters..."

Ezra in Second From Last in the Sack Race

Plays like this, where practically every part is a cameo, don't really stretch you as an actor. There's not real depth or complexity to the characters, and the success or otherwise of the characterisation relies entirely on the actor's observation and ability to draw the defining aspects of that character with a very broad brush. The person is on stage for such a short time and has such a limited function within the wider drama that there's no time or neccessity for anything else. It's a cartoon version of real acting really, perhaps funny or offbeat for a while (especially if the actor is good, as all ours were) but somewhat superficial and ultimately not very fulfilling.

Still, I tried to get a bit more depth into Ezra, particularly in the one scene where he reveals his true underlying emotions while drunk, and made the most of what was there. I was starting to realise, though, that the really good parts were either in the past or would never be offered to me.

It was really during this production that I seriously began to wonder whether my heart was in this anymore, certainly if I was to be playing these kind of roles from now on. Frankly, I was feeling pretty under-used, under-valued and underwhelmed with the whole acting gig. In short, I was bored. And poor. And mostly living in crappy digs. And I was forty. A mid-life crisis seemed to be inevitable! It took two more shows to bring it on though...