Review of 2022 Season
Following our pre-pandemic production of ‘The Fat Lady Sings in Little Grimley’, we opted for another comedy by David Tristram to open our first full season since 2019. ‘The Opposite Sex’, set in the 1980’s, is a genuinely funny comedy that revolves around two married couples and a last minute - very unexpected - dinner party invitation. When the couples meet for the first time on the night of the party, they have no idea of the trouble ahead! We had an absolute blast bringing this comedy to life and rehearsals were full of behind the scenes giggles as well as on stage hilarity. And it seems our audience really enjoyed it too; we heard some great comments as people were making their way home.
After the laugh out loud opening to the season, we went a little more classical for our October production with two one-act comedic plays by the great Russian writer Anton Chekhov. Chekhov’s work offers a broad social perspective on late 19th century Russia and the pair of short jests we chose to perform - 'The Bear' and 'The Proposal' - very much reflect rural society at that time. Chekhov died of tuberculosis aged 44, leaving a literary legacy of plays, such as 'The Cherry Orchard', 'Three Sisters', 'Uncle Vanya', and over 500 short stories behind him. We were rehearsing for this production when the first lockdown began in 2020 and, although we were a little unsure what kind of reception it would receive, we decided to take on the challenge. We needn't have worried as the audience feedback was really positive.
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And to close the year, after two years without them, 2022 saw us make a return to our popular winter murder mystery with ‘Sleeping Gorgeous-Beauty – The Murder Mystery Panto!’ Written by Janet Smith, directed by Pat Munro, and with special effects by Andrew Hills, 'Sleeping Gorgeous-Beauty' is the tale of two conmen who were hoodwinking tourists that a rundown estate they'd bought was the historic site of a parallel ‘Sleeping Beauty’ fairy story. But then, very oddly and for reasons still unclear, a real pantomime prince arrived hoping to waken the princess with a kiss. He was closely followed by a witch, a fairy and of course a pantomime horse.
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This show even saw us make our first foray (for a very long time at least) into creating a backdrop for the set. The lovely comments about the castle scene were really appreciated and, hung from ceiling to floor as it was, we agree that it really did turn the library into a magical panto setting for a while. Our audiences seemed to love the show as much as we enjoyed putting it all together, with everyone asking for 'more panto please' on their way out!
We'll see about that - but no promises just yet!
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klf
February 2023