I could have stayed at home tonight and watched the England – Belgium game. Happily, I went to see KCA’s production of Eric Chappell’s play Something’s Burning; a tale of marital desertion, sporting activities and mid-life crises all around. It is a very gentle play filled with very gentle humour and thoroughly enjoyable it was too.
It’s a lovely facility Kinson Community Centre with its little hall where KCA perform, so it was a bit odd that the players should be mic’d with the sound always on the edge of feedback. I loved the choice of music that announced the beginning of the play.
Lighting was simple and effective. It convincingly portrayed a hot summer’s day made all too real by the sweltering temperatures.
Denise King as Nell Adams gave a convincing performance of an attractive woman in mid-life who is suddenly ditched by her husband for another woman. A huge part, Denise’s great comic timing, sense of irony and occasional glimpses of bitterness at how her life has turned out, carry the play along.
It’s not long before would-be lovers crawl out of the woodwork.
George, one of Nell’s lovers, was ably played by David Wickham with a rather worn Casanova-type disposition feeding disparaging remarks about his great love rival Jim, who was supposed to be bordering on senility and labelled the “coffin dodger”. Actually, Jim looked to be the younger of the two, which may have been a deliberate device to heighten the irony or not.
Mick Wright played Jim, the widower, beautifully. He managed to tread a careful path so we weren’t sure of his sincerity regarding his late wife’s demise or, indeed, if he hadn’t actually had something to do with her death!
I thoroughly enjoyed the evening, so if, like me, you love a good gentle comedy (and you can never go wrong with an Eric Chappell) why not make your way to Kinson Community Theatre. KCA are playing until 30th June 2018