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  The
Argosy Players in: All in Favour by L du Garde Peach
Staged: 29 March 1955 in the Basement theatre Head Office
Water Street Liverpool
Once more, the Argosy Players are keeping their acting
skills well-honed as they support the Music Section of the Society of the
Arts, who offer an evening’s entertainment to Members of the Society in the
Spring of 1955. These are popular
occasions, and to think that colleagues who work together for at least
forty-five hours each week, might then like to be together socially makes
some sense. However, that they would want to subject themselves to learning
lines, and songs, and dances and sketches, and then perform plays and songs
and operas in front of each other, shows perhaps if not how bereft of things
to do they might be, then at the very least how talented a group of people
they actually are. If we try to put
this into perspective, we can see that in March 1955 there is still only BBC
Radio with a small number of national and regional channels, and BBC
Television with a second TV channel still six months away. Whilst there are
cinemas and dance halls, amateur performing groups are very much de-rigeur. The Argosy Players are “on” after the
interval, and they have chosen a slightly dark comedy, “All in Favour”. This
is notable for being the second time the Players have presented an all-female
cast, and having previously been condescending of all-female productions,
Martins Bank Magazine does at least give a fair appraisal of “All in Favour”,
describing it as going “with a bang”, using words such as “hitting the right
note” and even noticing that audience members were “rocked with laughter”…
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Brenda Aked, Shirley Roberts, Kathleen Horsburgh. Rose Firmin,
Valerie Johnson. Sheila Boyle, Maud Melville and Valerie Barrett
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 The Music Section and the
Argosy Players combined forces to present an entertainment to the members
of the Society in the Basement Theatre at Head Office on the evening of
March 29th. After the refreshment interval the Argosy Players entertained
us with a one-act play, “ All In Favour,” by L. du Garde Peach, produced by
Marlis Harvey. It went with a bang right from the word “ go ” and without
exception each one of the eight characters gave a first-class character
interpretation of her part. The scene depicted a ladies’ committee presided
over by an ineffectual chairman who has so little idea of controlling and
running a committee meeting that it finally finishes with every one walking
out before anything is decided. Valerie
Johnson, daughter of Mr. S. J. Johnson, of Victoria Street branch, played
the part of the Chairman and gave us a very realistic picture of those
scatter-brained people we sometimes meet in real life. Kathleen Horsburgh
and Maud Melville gave us two of the best bits of character acting we have
seen in the Society and the audience rocked with laughter from first to
last. Rose Firmin’s part demanded a quieter interpretation than some of the
other parts and she hit exactly the right note with her contretemps with
Shirley Roberts, the lady whose idea of a day's fun was to go on a
charabanc outing. These two were equally good in a different way. Sheila
Boyle, who played the part of the timid lady, was another whose performance
was quite excellent. She even made her body appear timid by the clever way
she held her head and shoulders. Then, when Brenda Aked came in as the
uninhibited product of the modern generation, our cup of happiness was
complete. Clad in tennis shorts to attend a stuffy Sunday afternoon meeting
of church ladies, the effect of her impact on the personalities there
finally caused the meeting to break up, almost in disorder. Brenda probably
acted less than any of the others: all she had to do was to be her fresh,
cheerful self. Last, but not least, Valerie Barrett took the part of the
maid—a pretty, pert and very self-possessed maid, very nicely portrayed
without being overdone. A very pleasant evening's entertainment, thoroughly
enjoyed by us all. In the unavoidable absence of Mr. Price, Chairman of the
Society, Mr. Verity, as President, thanked the performers. We were pleased
to have Mr. and Mrs. Verity. Mr. and Mrs. Tarn and Mr. and Mrs. Maxwell
with us on this social occasion.
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