‘A Delicate Balance’
Starring the Balancing act of:
Tobias (Mel Hancock)
Agnes (Elaine Contente)
Claire (Cecelia McLaren)
Edna (Erin Deward)
Harry (Myself)
Julia (Denise Mullen).
Set paintings were done by Debb Blau.
Words from the Attic:
(Programme Notes)
For their first production of 2002, the Nasty Attic Players warm up with a little spring training by hiking it back to their favourite American playwright Edward Albee and performing his highly acclaimed and venomously funny play ‘A Delicate Balance’. Come join us as the dark clouds of doom swiftly gather about Tobias. He’s rich. He has a beautiful house. He has a wife and daughter. He has a best friend. He has a drunken sister-in-law and it’s all going to the dogs in the next few hours! Yes, it’s another highly original, energetic and entertaining show from the Attic, full of unearthly production values, fab music and tricks so cheap you’ll wonder why we did them?
‘A Delicate Balance’ was our next foray into the works of Edward Albee. Another Albee another fabulously written dysfunctional family. Our last had been ‘Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf’. Like it, ‘A Delicate Balance’ had become part of the theatrical canon of plays to do. In fact, it was helping out on a particularly bad production which caused me to tackle it. For they had drained away the knife edge humor. Leaving the piece gutted of his magic and drowning in melodrama. Directing and acting in ‘Virginia Woolf’, I had fallen completely in love with his words. He wrote such complex characters, erudite and intellectual, drenched in human foibles and alcohol. Much like himself. He was an alcoholic much of his life. Again, I had Mel Hancock, Elaine Contente and Erin Deward with me. All of whom were already familiar with the demands and techniques required to bring this playwright’s characters to life. Not an easy task. For his language was far from realistic and was instead a sophisticated patter permeated with pith and vinegar. Scored in fast eloquent dialogue and beautiful deep monologues. It demanded precise vocal control from the actors. In order that it tripped off the tongue and struck the right tone in the audience’s ear. Which was somewhere between venom, humour and truth. Making the audience alternately laugh and cry for these, oh so human souls. It sounded wonderful when it was in tune and clanged like a sour bell if it wasn’t.
