By English playwright Alan Ayckbourn.Performed by BATS at St. Teilo’s Church Hall, Bishopston on March 27th and 28th and April 2nd, 3rd and 4th, 2009.
The raffle held during production raised £360 for the Friends of T? Hapus. Thank you to all those who bought tickets!
Synopsis (from Samuel French)
Ernest and Delia are off out to dinner to celebrate their wedding anniversary, a disaster that sends them back to bed to celebrate with pilchards on toast whilst worrying about their son Trevor and his wife Susannah. Malcolm and Kate are preparing a house-warming party: Susannah and Trevor have been invited, as have Jan and Nick, but Nick has hurt his back and hopes to rest quietly in bed, sending Jan along on her own, where she may run into her old flame – Trevor. That’s four couples, but only three bedrooms – and as battling couple Trevor and Susannah don’t belong in any of them, everyone else can look forward to a long night of very little sleep.
With a reputation for plays that pinpoint the minutae of everyday relationships of successive generations it’s not surprising that Ayckbourn’s interpretation of a Bedroom Farce is far more subtle than the slamming doors and dropped trousers its title might imply.
Director/Producer
- Barry Cooper
Cast (in order of appearance)
- ‘Ernest’ ~ Stewart Hiorns
- ‘Delia’ ~ Julie Greenwood
- ‘Nick’ ~ Roger Bell
- ‘Jan’ ~ Laura Sims
- ‘Malcolm’ ~ Steve Nelson
- ‘Kate’ ~ Helen Gwiliam
- ‘Trevor’ ~ Piers Morgan Harvey
- ‘Susannah’ ~ Sian Cole
Backstage
- Stage & Technical Manager ~ Alan Bailey
- Assistants ~ Mike Turner, Malcolm Poole, Jaimes Cooper
- Prompt ~ Ros Brace, Jaimes Cooper
- Props ~ David Spear & cast
- Costumes ~ Heather Cooper & cast
- Hair & Make-up ~ Julie Greenwood, Joyce Childs
- Front-of-house, Refreshments ~ Dorothy Morris, Barbara Spear, Heather Cooper, Carol Rood, Dave Spear, Ian Evans, Tony Currell, Jaimes Cooper, Jill & Malcolm Poole, Doreen & Geoff Davies, Maureen Bailey, Val Hiorns, Keith Gwynne, Mike & Mary Turner.
Director’s Note
This is the first time we have attempted a play by Alan Ayckbourn. 2009 is a good year to start, however, as two of his plays, “Norman Conquests” and “Woman in Mind” have been revised in the West End.
The title “Bedroom Farce” would suggest a host of doors and trousers around ankles but it is, in fact, a thoughtful comedy which I hope you will enjoy.
Recent plays have been very difficult to stage as our acting space is extremely small. We have, however, tried to overcome these difficulties so that we can present slightly unusual plays. Tonight’s play is no different inasmuch as it is unusual and difficult to stage! I would like to thank the cast who have performed, beyond the call of duty, in the limited space and produced an excellent performance.
I would also like to thank everyone behind the scenes for their help and especially Alan Bailey and his team for the set, beds and lights and Dave, Doreen, Heather, Mike and Jaimes who have come along and “read in” for absent actors.
Thank you for your support this evening and, if you enjoy the play, please consider bringing along a friend next time, as we need to keep live theatre thriving in Bishopston and, to achieve this, we constantly need new audiences.
Photos
The Cast (-1). Left to right: Stewart Hiorns (“Ernest”), Helen Gwiliam (“Kate”), Piers Morgan Harvey (“Trevor”), Sian Cole (“Susannah”), Roger Bell (“Nick”), Julie Greenwood (front) (“Delia”), Laura Sims (back) (“Jan”)