Players rise to challenge

Kiss Me Kate, George Lawton Hall, Mossley
A SHOW within a show, this Cole Porter classic is a mammoth challenge for an amateur group, but Dukinfield Amateur Operatic and Dramatic Society pulled it off with panache.

For just short of three hours on stage, the principal players, aided by a 25-strong supporting cast, gave their audience plenty to enjoy.

Laura Meredith Hoyle was the undoubted star of the show, as she played the feisty Lilli Vanessi, whose character mimicked Katherine — the woman who made a string of would-be suitors quake in their boots as the shrew in Shakespeare’s “Taming of the Shrew.”

She gave a stunning performance, fitting perfectly into a great acting part, with a wonderful voice which many a professional would be proud to own.

Her performance was matched by David Noble, who played both Fred Graham, Lilli’s ex-husband, and Petruchio, who “tames” the shrew and takes her for his wife.

Entangled by happenings in their off-stage lives, the four main cast members struggle to stop their personal complications playing out in their “stage” performance.

With an unpaid gambling debt, two heavies chasing the wrong man for payment, and the directors’ efforts to mask mounting tensions, the plot is perfect for teasing plenty of laughs from the audience, and spot-on timing from the cast meant opportunities weren’t missed.

Vince Bowers and Nigel Winters gave a great show as the two gun-toting gangsters out to make sure the gambling debt is paid, and it was wonderful to see a set of musicians play throughout, instead of the show having to rely on a soundtrack.

If there was any criticism, and it is only a very small one, the musicians perhaps on occasion played a little too loudly for some of the less-strong voices to be heard.

All in all it was a great evening, and one of which the society can be rightly proud. The show plays until Saturday. You would be well advised to see it if you get the chance.