Village Wooing, The Dolmen Theatre

We never learn the names of the two characters who meet on the upper class deck of the Empress of Patagonia cruise ship. The man is a travel writer for the 'Marco Polo Series of Chatty Guide books'; the woman a young phone operator who talks to the man, although his main concern is his writing, without having 'two thousand words a day I am bankrupt'. Despite this plea and his disgruntled manner, the woman persists in this first scene, or conversation, of Bernard Shaw's witty, and sparkling, take on class, love and marriage, with a touch of the breeze of changing times, when a village shop assistant can win money and blow it all taking a cruise around the world. 

The action moves from the cruise ship to the village shop with a simple up-righting of the ship set, the production designed wonderfully by Andrew Murray, converting the ship deck to the old style, long lost village shop, put together simply, creatively and with loving detail. Rebecca Grimes' phone operator delightfully captures the bright and breezy feeling of being in sunny lands on a ship, something she doesn't drop throughout her performance, enhancing it even when back on the dry land of the village. While there is this brightness, there is also a cleverness to her character as well, in a knowing and wonderful performance from the writer and actor of Mavericks. 

Elliot Moriarty plays the upper class writer, who describes himself as 'not being everyman'. His voyage is work based, not enjoyment, the latter seemingly not on his radar much as this widower comes over as more fussy and uncertain than anything else. So much so that to escape the shop assistant - she corrects him when he calls her a shop girl - he wants to move his chair to another part of the ship. When he arrives in the village he doesn't remember her, but of course, this smart woman remembers him.

This is a bright, breezy production, directed by Michael James Ford, showcasing the wit and sparkle of Shaw's dialogue, shining as much as the sun over the ship, alongside Grimes' winning performance. It is a delightful way to spend an evening as Shaw navigates love, society and people in the way he only can. It first surfaced in 1934 and it still remains a wonderful one act play, brought to life delightfully in this simple, direct and smart production that is a real treat.