Review: Par for the Course serves up laughs in Cheriton

I’m not much of a golfer so I don’t know if the saying is true, but I think if I met the characters in Peter Gordon’s Par for The Course - performed masterfully by the Cheriton Players from November 29 to December 2 – I’d probably hang up my (theoretical) clubs for good.

Set at the fictional Seven Lakes Golf Club, Par for The Course follows six club members during Captain’s Day. As secrets are revealed and poor communication takes place, the swelling egos and clashing personalities lead to a “crashing” end.

L-R: David Cradduck and Mike Cornter (Image: Simon Newman)READ MORE: 'We loved them all': Rave reviews for new Pakistani pop-up kitchen

To start things off, the show itself looked fantastic. While the set is somewhat minimal, essentially the patio outside the clubhouse as well as the putting green, the actual production design itself was superb, especially considering the small space of Cheriton Village Hall.

The players themselves were incredibly well-cast. Standouts included Mike Cornter as Barry West, who managed to create a character so equally pleasant and put upon that I had to fight the urge to get up and hug him. Meanwhile, David Cradduck expertly portrayed club secretary and busybody Simon Weaver, leading to a fantastic performance as he explored the character’s eccentricities.

Bernadette Lomas shined as Tiffany Jennings, an airheaded young woman hoping to make it as an air stewardess, in a performance that appeared to be channelling the best parts of Catherine Tate’s work.

The other cast members, Glynn Williams as conniving, habitual liar (sorry, exaggerator) Nick Armitage, Jane Richards as the domineering Fran Jeffries and Helena Gomm as Simon’s caustic and clever wife Laura also all deserve applause and praise.

L-R: Glynn Williams, Mike Cornter, Jane Richards, Bernadette Lomas and David Cradduck (Image: Simon Newman)The play itself was full of amazing jokes, leading to some incredible punchlines. A recurring joke mentions that one of Tiffany’s family members having been injured in an issue involving a chainsaw was a particular delight – “It’s why I’m a vegetarian now” she quips in one scene. “They took most of her to one hospital and her leg to another!” she says in another. And when the arguments, petty grievances and actual infidelity all gets revealed, it works both dramatically and comedically.

Arguments about golf clubs, improperly prepared sausages, the ailing health of one’s poor mother and an ongoing dispute over where a hedge is planted all escalate and build, making it a real delight as the storylines merge and overlap.

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However, the show was not without faults, mostly that some of the humour felt a little bit dated. A recurring plot thread about one of the female characters secretly being a man (she’s not, but that isn’t revealed until the end) didn’t really work for me. While there is a world where it could have worked, making it a funny example of a growing misunderstanding, overall, I didn’t find it very amusing.

L-R: David Cradduck and Helena Gomm (Image: Simon Newman)But that’s something that the company itself can’t change. Overall, the show was incredible fun, and I cannot stress how excellent the cast was (there were times I forgot that I wasn’t watching professionals). As the nights get longer and the weather gets colder, it’s nice to be able to enter a world of endless warm days and pleasant evenings, playing golf and discussing scores.

And Par for The Course offers all that. Just don’t eat the sausages.