The enjoyment begins with the friendly greeting as you walk into Freshwater Memorial Hall: the bar is open, raffle tickets are being sold and the front area of the auditorium is set out with cabaret-style tables, on which there is money! Edible, I was told (and can vouch for it, having consumed some – couldn’t resist!).

By the time the curtain rises, the audience are already warmed up and ready to laugh – and laugh they did, throughout this delightful show. Tim and Ginnie are optimistically planning their future, despite being poor – sorry, not poor, just a cash flow problem, as Tim notes. His mother, Lady Gertrude married into money, which Tim’s dead father promptly lost, leaving her – and her son –  living well below the manner she expected. But the day may be saved by her sister-in-law Lady Astoria Featherstone, who writes that she is thinking of leaving her fortune to Tim – and she is coming to stay!

The only problem is Lady Astoria deplores the concept of divorce, and last saw her family at Tim’s wedding to the upper-crust socialite Lavinia….except since then Tim has divorced and remarried the local farmer’s daughter Ginnie. In true farcical fashion, the family decide to rope in Lavinia with the promise of a payoff to play the happy wife…but what will Ginnie do? And how will they cope with Gertrude’s drunken father? (yes, Astoria deplores alcohol too!) And will the local vicar give the game away? – after all, he knows who Tim is really married to!

The result is lots of laughter for the audience and the chance to create some hilarious characters for the cast. Michael Dangerfield made a great Tim, portraying his love for Ginnie, his desperation for the money and his increasing stress as events overtake him. Andrea Reid’s Ginnie was sweet and lovely – I can see why Tim married her – and Andrea beautifully captured the character’s innocence and distress as she pretended to be the maid so she could keep an eye on her husband – but didn’t always like what she saw!

Playing opposite Andrea was Alexandra Knight as a perfectly pompous Lavinia: we thoroughly enjoyed hating her – yet secretly admiring her dresses! Almost matching her for upper class snobbery, Jane Loizos was great as Lady Gertrude – her facial expressions told us exactly what she thought, and the moment when she tried to silently let Tim know his aunt was in the room was hilarious.

Mathew Northard played the drunken Walter, Gertrude’s father, who refused to be kept out of the way – his secret raids on the sideboard for more drinks were very funny. Graham Andrews combined directing duties with the role of the Reverend Jenkins, in which he shone – and I know how hard it is to be on stage and directing too. The scene in which the vicar is given some ‘medicinal’ brandy is a highlight of the show! Elaine Smith showed her stage experience as Burrows the maid, and the cast was completed by Isla Wight commanding the stage as the formidable Lady Astoria Featherstone.

There was also clearly a lot of work done behind the scenes judging by the costumes, which showcased the characters well; the sound and lighting and the set which used the stage space well. Plaudits must go to all those involved in the show which was so well received by the audience, with hoots of laughter and plenty of applause at the end of the very entertaining evening. Looking forward to seeing what Curtain Up does next….

Reviewed by Maureen Sullivan