Southwick
West
Sussex
reg. charity no.
263310
| Home |
| About Wick |
| Next Show |
| Barn Theatre |
| Future shows |
| Past shows |
| Diary of Events |
| Directory |
| Contact us |
| Outside links |
Tickets
£8.50
under 14's
£5
Box office
01273 597094
Wick thanks
St John's
for their
attendance at
our performances
last updated
17/04/08 20:23
|
Pink
String and Sealing
Wax |
|
| Cast | |
| Patrick Johnson - Edward Strachan | |
| Diana Hubbard - Mrs. Strachan | |
| Jean Porter - Emily Strachan | |
| Wendy Hart - Patti Strachan | |
| Derek Wass - Albert Strachan | |
| Mary Gedge - Jessie Strachan | |
| Betty Carpenter - Pearl Bond | |
| Adrian Hedges - Dr O'Shea | |
| Ralph Dawes - Ernest O'Shea | |
| Wendy Hart - Eva | |
| Production Crew | |
| Stage Manager - Clive Townsend | |
| Lighting - Frank Hurrell | |
| Decor - Elizabeth Penney | |
|
Review of the time |
|
|
"Young Wick Players' Success" |
|
| The Young Wick Players
presented Roland Pertwees' famous play Pink String and Sealing Wax at
the Barn Theatre, Southwick, last Thursday, Friday and Saturday, and
provided their audiences with good entertainment. The play, although
a murder piece , has its lighter moments, and the cast made the most of
these. A domestic drama set in Brighton during the 1880's the plot
features a stern and dictatorial father, Edward Strachan, who has made a
success of his life as a chemist and analyst and is determined that no
member of his large family shall outshine him in any way. His eldest daughter Emily aspires to become a great singer and has been
encouraged by Patti. Albert hopes to become an engineer and Jessie
longs to take up acting. Father, however, frowns upon his
children's ambitions and unwittingly causes them to band together in
sympathy with each other and hide their many secrets from him.
Thus Albert becomes involved with Pearl Bond, a married women whose
husband is the victim of the plot. Mary Gedge and Jean Porter were convincing as Jessie and Emily, the thwarted sisters, and their diction at all times was clear and pleasant. Patrick Johnson made the most of his part as the frusty father and Betty carpenter gave one of the best performances of the evening as Pearl Bond. Adrian hedges, although he managed to keep up a fine Irish accent, was too youthful in his portrayal of the fiery-tempered Dr. O'Shea. The need to put over an old man's voice as well as an accent proved a little too difficult for him. Ralph Dawes played his son Ernest, Derek Wass, in the part of Albert, conveyed the boy's rather weak character, and the youngest member f the family Eva, was played by Wendy Hart. Diana Hubbard was competent as the tranquil Mrs. Strachan. The play was produced by Betty Gedge and Clive Townsend as Stage Manager. Lighting was by Frank Hurrell and the decor by Elizabeth Penney. |
|
|
Pygmalion |
|
| Cast | |
| Pat Holloway - Miss Eynsford-Hill | |
| Judy Wilkey - Mrs. Eynsford-Hill | |
| Ross Workman - Bystander | |
| Derek Wass - Freddie Eynsford-Hill | |
| Jean Porter - Eliza Doolittle | |
| Seamus McGurk - Colonel Pickering | |
| Patrick Johnson - Henry Higgins | |
| Elwyn Wass - Sarcastic Bystander | |
| Kenneth Wilson - Taximan | |
| Betty Gedge - Mrs. Pearce | |
| Ralph Dawes - Alfred Doolttle | |
| Betty Carpenter - Mrs. Higgins | |
| Rosemary Pockett - Parlourmaid | |
| Production Crew | |
| Stage Manager - Clive Townsend | |
| Lighting - Frank Hurrell | |
| Properties - Mary Gedge, Susan Aris | |
| Wardrobe - Susan Dawson, Belinda Penney | |
| Scenery designed and executed by Ralph Dawes | |
| Decor - Belinda Penney | |
|
One review of the time |
H.T.C |
|
"Wick Players overcame 'Pygmalion' problems" |
|
| In
a situation fraught with difficulties, the Young Wick Players won
through and succeeded in presenting a lively production of George
Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion in the Barn Theatre last Thursday,
Friday and Saturday. The Players themselves must have wondered if
their play would ever reach first-night stage. As a production Pygmalion
was an ambitious choice, further complicated by the illness of the
leading lady, Frances Moulton. Two weeks before the play was due
to go on producer Jean Porter took over the role of Eliza
Doolittle. On the night before the play was presented the Players
found that they had to tailor much of their sets to fit an altered
stage. But they surmounted these difficulties and won the acclaim
of the audiences. Their strength lay in fine acting by all the main characters. Jean Porter, fortunately has played the part before and her performance was up to professional standards. We in the audience forgot her as a person and saw only the bedraggled flower-girl who, like her own products, blossomed into a fine flower. She got inside her part with ease, exploited the comedy to the full and made the best of the more poignant scenes: a fine actress. Patrick Johnson, as Professor Higgins, was with the exception of one small scene well at home in his character of the mannerless, at times boorish, but naively well meaning cause of the whole story. The exception was in the penultimate act, during which Eliza threw the slippers at him; he was inclined to resort to the melodramatic gestures more suited to the Victorian stage. Seamus McGurk, as Higgin's 'partner-in-crime' Colonel Pickering, provided just the right touch of sympathy and understanding lacking in the Professor's make-up. He, too, was at ease in the part and deceptively able. Betty Gedge showed once more just how effectively an amateur can create a part. As the professor's housekeeper she was ideal. Her authentic Scots accent was maintained without labor, there was just enough of it, and she was completely in character. Betty Carpenter, as the professor's mother, was another member whose part was apt to be over looked because of the ease with which she settled into it, while Ralph Dawes showed ability in the difficult character, Alfred Doolilttle, Eliza's father. Other parts were tackled by Pat Holloway [Miss Eynsford-Hill], Judy Wilkey [Mrs. Eynsford-Hill], Ross Workman [Bystander], Derek Wass [Freddie]. Elwyn Wass [Sarcastic bystander] and Rosemary Pockett [maid] As I have said, a feature of the production was the fine acting. But the Players do not deserve to be dismissed with praise only: criticism will, I hope, urge them on towards ultimate perfection. For just as a feature of this play was its good acting, another was its poor stage craft - excluding the difficulties which arose from the altered sets. I fear that Jean Porter's sudden take-over resulted in a neglect of this side of the play, and there was an evident lack of co-ordination backstage. Also, an attempt to bring the play up to date jarred, particularly with the introduction of the word 'tape-recorder' and the appearance of an bystander in RAF battledress. It was also apparent that no great thought was given to the interval music, which could neither be heard easily nor dismissed from the background - a persistent fault with this company. The play was, however, exceptionally well dressed for an amateur show, and the enthusiasm behind the production prodigious. They deserved to be - and were - strongly supported. Their ambition is shown by their next production which they hope will be Sailor Beware, a West End hit that began its life in Worthing and of which the Young Wick Players will be among the first to give it an amateurs' presentation. |
|
|
The Brighton & Hove Gazette of September 29th 1956 carried this piece by Thalia |
|
| I
was glad to hear that Adrian Hedges who is in hospital with a fractured
skull as a result of a motor-cycle accident, is making good
progress. Adrian had been chosen to play the part of Alfred
Doolittle in the Young Wick Players' next production, Bernard Shaw's
well known Pygmalion. He was settling down well in the part
when the accident occurred, and apart from being a personal shock to his
friends in the Players it was a big blow to the production
itself. Fortunately for the Young Wicks Ralph Dawes was able to
step into the part, his original rôle of Freddie Eynsford-Hill being
taken over by Derek Wass. Such was the headache with the producer,
one of the newer members, Mrs. Jean Porter, was presented. But the
show goes on. The play was specially chosen as the Young Wick Players' own contribution to Shaw's centenary year, and will form the opening production of the coming season. |
|
Four
One-Act Plays
December
7, 8 1956
| 1 : November
Afternoon by Anthony Pelissier *directed by Patrick Johnson |
2 : A
Phoenix Too Frequent by Christopher Fry directed by Elizabeth Penney |
| Cast | Cast |
| Seamus McTurk - The Man | Betty Carpenter - Dynamene |
| Valerie Briggs - The Girl | Betty Gedge - Doto |
| Patrick Johnson - Tegenus-Chromis | |
| 3 : A
Room in the Tower by High Stewart *directed by Frances Moulton |
4
: Great Catherine by George Bernard Shaw directed by Elizabeth Penney |
| Cast | Cast |
| Diana Topping - Mrs. Tylney | Ralph Dawes - Patiomkin |
| Mary Gedge - Lady Jane Grey | Patricia Holloway - Varinka |
| Patricia Mason - Mrs. Ellen | Ross Workman - Sergeant |
| Jean Porter - Mary Tudor | Patrick Johnson - Edstaston |
| Adrian Hedges - Naryshkin | |
| Judy Wilkey - Princess Dashkoff | |
| Betty Gedge - Catherine | |
| Betty Carpenter - Claire | |
| Kenneth Wilson - 1st soldier | |
| Seamus McGurk - 2nd soldier |
| *debut Productions by Frances Moulton and Patrick Johnson | |
| Production Crew | |
| Stage Manger - Clive Townsend | |
| Lighting - Frank Hurrell | |
|
One review of the time |
H.T.C |
|
"Young Wick Players do a good job" |
|
|
The Young Wick Players provided a
varied evening's entertainment on Friday and Saturday with four one-act
plays. two being Festival winners in 1954 and 1956. For me Betty Gedge made the evening, first as the delightfully earthy Doto in Christopher Fry's A Phoenix Too Frequent, and later in the evening as Catherine in George Bernard Shaw's Great ; no mean feat. In the former the set and lighting were effective and the cast of three under intelligent direction, made the most of their lines and enabled the audience to savour this comedy to the full. I was therefore a little disappointed to see that producer Elizabeth Penney, while able to reveal the subtleties of Fry's humour, should fall down on the straightforward comedy of Shaw, for in the second main play there was just a little too much slapstick and over-acting, so that at times the effect was third-rate pantomime. Patrick Johnson, too, had a full part in this play, and I found myself getting a little tired of him: his voice lacks a wide enough dramatic range, and someone must tell him about his hands; excitement, emotion, emphasis - they were all signified by clenched fists on arms bent at the elbows. But he did put over some wonderful lines in his coy pose. Anthony Pelissier's November Afternoon was an ideal curtain-raiser which was well conveyed by Seamus McTurk, Valerie Briggs will do better as her experience increases. A Room in the Tower, by Hugh Stewart, was a little too long for the second curtain-raiser and not, perhaps, a happy choice so soon after Southwick audiences had seen The Young Elizabeth. Mary Gedge was an attractive Lady Jane and Jean Porter an able Mary Tudor.
|
|