Edward Fox - Sand in the Sandwiches - John Betjeman

I saw "Sand in the Sandwiches" at the Oxford Playhouse yesterday. I am a volunteer usher, so am lucky to be able to see lots of productions.

A good production draws you in, involves you, entertains you, makes you think - laugh - cry. This was a one man show, which I hadn't realised. There was no action or interaction - no plot. Edward Fox, who is 79 was on stage, alone, for the whole show, lasting the best part of 2 hours. As someone who realises that my memory is not what it was, I find that alone hugely impressing. I imagine that the fact that much of the dialogue is Betjemans rhyming poetry helps - but even so...

Fox has a very distinctive voice & way of speaking. He has a way of running words into one another whilst having very aristocratic "cut glass" diction. He is quite softly spoken. The problem with the performance was that I couldn't hear a lot of the script. (Yes I did have my hearing aid in).

This production is not the only one I have experienced the frustration of having to guess what has been said. It's also increasingly true of TV, where there seems to be a fashion for whispering - "The Fall", "Person of Interest" to name but two. The text is important. It isn't an adjunct to the acting.

I'm not sure where the blame lies. You would think that in this highly technical age, with sound systems only dreamt of 10 years ago, technicians would be able to get the sound levels right. You would imagine that directors would, at some point, put themselves in the situation of the audience in the back row, or their living rooms, to see if the message was getting through. You would think that actors were properly trained in voice projection or would wear today's unobtrusive microphones.

I know I'm a "grumpy old woman",  but there are an awful lot of us who go to theatres & many people have hearing problems. Several times yesterday members of the audience left the auditorium to go & get a loop headset. Listening to comments as the audience left I know I was not alone in being irritated.

John Betjemans words deserved better.