The Talented Ely Society

The Ely Amateur Dramatic Society has done it again. Edgy, bitter and wickedly wise, their latest production was a connoisseur’s delight.

Phyllis Nagy’s stage adaptation of Patricia Highsmith’s novel 'The Talented Mr Ripley' is as neatly tailored as an Italian suit, its language simple and stylish, the scenes fluid but well-formed. Stepping into this elegant framework, Nagy’s anti-hero resembles the smooth-talking Ripley of Alain Delon in ‘60s French cult movie 'Plein Soleil'. It would have been easy, therefore, to produce something cute and one-dimensional on stage, a comic-book murderer - however director Michael Holland has worked with newcomer Matt Deacon in the title role to achieve a far more visceral evolution of the Ripley character.

This was Matt’s first stage appearance of any kind, a fact rather difficult to digest given the precision and depth of the result. Described by the society’s co-ordinator, Annabel Reddick, as ‘a real find’, the group’s latest addition established an immediate rapport with the audience. Winsome and malicious, he made us tacit partners in Ripley’s blithe lies and psychological games. Just when we were starting to feel cosy, his mood would turn on a dime to create a growing sense of unease. And when Tom turned his back on the crowd to bludgeon Dickie to death in a magnificent piece of simple and effective staging, it was truly shocking to see that the games were over.

In his last outing as director for this group, Mike Holland steered a superbly excruciating 'Abigail’s Party'. Tonight, there was a real tension in the air whenever the raw nerve of humiliation was touched to trigger Ripley’s violence. Nagy’s script exposes themes which are subliminal in the novel - Ripley’s misogynistic loathing of Marge, for example, is far more overt, and provides some of the best moments of black comedy. In the role, Emma Newman was deeply touching as the quintessential ‘50s woman - yielding yet suspicious, sharp yet wildly overgenerous. She is finally spared by Ripley, despite their enmity, only because her respect flatters him. And Tom’s jealous homosexuality, previously simmering beneath the surface, is here the poignant and present motive for his manipulation of good-natured rich boy Dickie Greenleaf - played with a perfect confused dignity by Darren Smith.

Last seen as Sky Masterson in the Campaign Amateur Theatre Group’s production of 'Guys and Dolls', Darren is remarkably prolific on the local amateur stage. He can turn his hand to musicals, comedy and drama, it seems, with equal success, whether as Mike Leigh’s sleazy ‘Tone’, a militant schoolteacher in Campaign’s 'Fiddler on the Roof', or Ayckbourn’s frustrated, bedridden cuckold in the ADS’s recent staging of 'Bedroom Farce'.

Another familiar face from the Ely amateur scene was the wonderful Jake Featherstone, who gave the audience terrific fun in three different roles, as conman Fausto, the silky ‘valet’ Silvio, and good ol’ boy Freddie Miles. Mention must also be given to Lisa Bushell’s gloriously Bette Davis portrayal of the dying Emily Greenleaf - a woman of many talents, Lisa is currently working on the choreography for the Campaign Amateur Theatre Group’s upcoming production of 'South Pacific' (which Mike Holland directs).

On this opening night, 'My Funny Valentine' played us softly into Italy. The ocean was an ever-present metaphor for femininity and loss at the edges of the stage, thanks to picture-postcard lighting in Mongibello and a sense of dank gloom in Venice. (“It’s a pity to be afraid of the water,” says Tony Ransome’s shrewd detective to Tom, “Without it, one cannot exist”.) A live butterfly trapped in the stage curtains fluttered obligingly around lovers Dickie and Marge, while the excluded Ripley raged against ‘revolting romantic excess’.

Hard work and devotion produced this performance, sadly for three nights only, but it’s easy to think this group has a bit of magic about it too.

Look out for the society’s annual outdoor Shakespeare production in Ely’s Sue Ryder Gardens. This year we are promised that most of the Ripley cast will be returning in 'Julius Caesar' from July 18th to 21st, directed by Fiona Gilbert.

Suzanne Nield