MATTHEW MILLER

Northcott Theatre, Exeter

Three stars

The Arts Council recently suffered a burst of exceptional generosity, and theatres all over the country announced with glee that the additional cash would enable them to fund productions with much bigger casts than had previously been the case. But even the most generous Arts Council grant wouldn't fill the stage in the way that Matthew Miller does - and at less cost than a handful of professional actors. Because the 140 performers on display are unpaid amateurs, and Matthew Miller is a "community production". Now these are words that generally send a shiver down the spine of experienced theatregoers. It tends to mean little more than am-dram with a local twist. It is therefore nice to be able to report that parts of Matthew Miller are excellent.

The framework of the piece, written by Nick Stimson and Nick Discombe, is provided by a fairly uninspired story set in contemporary Exeter involving property redevelopers, conservationists, teenagers and a lot of tortuous plot developments and over-extended set pieces that have 'devised by the company' written all over them. Interspersing this narrative are the recollections of Matthew Miller, elderly Exeter resident, as he looks back on his life in the city.

It is a shame that the present-day story, which should provide little more than a skeleton of which to hang the historical material, has been so extensively fleshed out, since it is a great deal weaker and less interesting than the flashbacks. It is when the story whirls back into the kaleidoscope of Matthew's memory - particularly into the chaos of Exeter in the Blitz and the fragmented, half-focused recollections of childhood - that the piece truly begins to hum. The swirling, dream-like impressionism is not only more effective and moving, but it also less likely to make excessive demands on what are, by definition, limited thespian abilities. At times the straighter nature of the present-day tale stretches those abilities beyond their natural tolerances. And the songs which intersperse the show also work far more effectively in the more stylised atmosphere of the past - although the rendition of Coldplay's hit Politik by some fifty massed voices is one of those unique memorable moments that only community productions can offer. As is the simple grandeur of seeing a stage stuffed with 150 performers at one time - a sight which is as rare as dodo's teeth in today's cash-starved theatre.

If there is a theatrical lesson in Matthew Miller, it is this: ambitious directors with dreams of being Cecil B. DeMille or Busby Berkeley and filling the stage with bodies need not wait passively - and probably in vain - for the Arts Council to give them enough money to pay for pros to do it. Although a production less intent on flaunting its community ethos might want to seed the cast with professional actors, Matthew Miller certainly demonstrates that there is a pool of keen, willing and for the most part competent amateurs in most communities just waiting to be tapped. And they don't cost a penny.

Toby O'Connor Morse

Until November 15 Box office: 01392 493493