REVIEW - Weston Mercury, Somerset & Avon Herald Friday ? ??th 1989  -  BOOKSHOP PLAY TURNS A LEAF

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To be honest, ten minutes into the latest production

by Weston Dramatic Society, I was beginning to

wonder what I had let myself in for.

The idea of a whole play based around two people,

each on different sides of the stage reading letters to

each other, did not seem promising. I readied myself

for a siesta in my seat.

But then it warmed up.

"84 Charing Cross Road", which ends its run at the

Playhouse tomorrow, is about a small bookshop at

that address, and the correspondence it shares with

New York-based bookworm Helene Hanff. She,

incidentally, wrote the play.

The early minutes were rather dull, because the

letters exchanged were rather formal.

But as the characters grew to know each other better,

the play livened considerably.

Considering the enormous number of lines faced by the two main characters, the first night mistakes were few and far between.

Brenda White, as the American, performed admirably, and Gerald White, as her main correspondent in the bookshop, Frank Doel, matched her performance.

Spanning the years 1949-71, the play contained more and more subtle humour

as the characters grew more familiar with each other.

The stage set, half as a bookshop and half as a New York apartment, was

convincing.

I thought I was going to hate it at first, but this well-produced, well-performed

play surprised me with an amusing, and, at the end, a touching evening's

entertainment.

It was a shame to see so many empty seats, which did not do the production

justice.                                                                                  DARREN BANE