Sleeping Partner

by Kenneth Horne

April  7, 8, 9 1960

Directed by  Ralph Dawes and  Ray Hopper

The programme [priced 4d.] carried this note: "This is our first adventure into the mysteries of theatrical production, and you probably wonder why there are two of us.  The fact is, one of us was young enough - and rash enough - to want to produce, and the other, of maturer outlook, volunteered to form a partnership (not passive but active).  It might, now, seem logical that we should be compelled to stage this particular comedy by Kenneth Horn.  Strangely enough this was not so.  Our aim was to keep to the Young Wick tradition of presenting a successful comedy each Spring, but the route to our final choice was tortuous in the extreme, which we have been informed is always the case.  We sincerely believe we have assembled a cast which will do justice to this amusing play, and we hope you will find the our 'Sleeping Partnership' has paid most handsome dividends.  R.D. &  R.H.

Production Crew

BRIGHTON AND HOVE GAZETTE

THESPIS

" Cast was an advantage "

Julian Peabody, a business man on holiday with his daughters and their respective fiancés, was quite skilfully played by Brian Moulton.  It was unfortunate, however, that he so consistently pitched his voice in the upper register: it tended to be very irritating.  Daughter Jill, and her sister's fiancé, Stephen Clench, are the two who bump their heads together and start to dream the same dream.  They were played most successfully by Clodagh O'Farrell and Ross Workman.  The somewhat smaller parts of Jill's fiancé, Mark Graham, and her younger sister, Phyllis, were excellently filled by Barrie Bowen and Ann Skemer.

The greatest credit must go to Betty Elliott for her delightfully Dora Bryan-esque playing of Violet Watkins, secretary and prospective wife of Julian.  The lack of originality was more than compensated by brilliance of performance.  The small part of the doctor was quite adequately filled by Ralph Dawes, but why with a scale rule  in the breast pocket?

The set design by Barrie Bowen and Frances Moulton was quite delightful, and John Chatfield's sound effects very good indeed.

Another Review of the time

W.G.G.

" This was comedy at its very best "

The plot was based upon the dream of two young people, both engaged to two other people.  Their dream was 'an imperfection in time and space' which, in a succession of dreams, they relived a former life they lived together a thousand years before. Their dreams were startlingly parallel with events and circumstances of their present-day lives, and the situation became both exquisitely funny and broadly farcical.  Anne Skemer, as Phyllis Peabody, rather fey, shy creature who loved another, her sister's fiancé, ably filled her rôle.  Her part was not designed to add much to the comedy situations: indeed her position of unrequited love made her a little tragic, but she held her own in the midst of the storm of farce.

The main comedy theme was carried on the capable shoulders of the rest of the cast. Brian Moulton Julian Peabody, infatuated with the pulchritudinous nitwit Violet Watkins plated by Betty Elliott, was excellent indeed.   Betty Elliott reached heights of comedy with her portrayal of the shrewdly simple - or was she simply shred? - secretary out to marry the boss after having seduced him and holding over his head an indiscreet letter.  She acted right into the heart of the part.  Jill Peabody, played by Clodagh O'Farrell and Stephen Clench, played by Ross Workman, thrown together, willy-nilly, by  a shared and rather erotic dream, gained every ounce of fun from their part, and Ralph Dawes, who made two brief appearances as a Doctor, was also very good.  Barrie Bowen, handsome and tall, was perhaps a little too strained but he did not fail.  

The setting was simple and well designed and the production, a joint effort by Ralph Dawes and Raymond Hopper, was without fault.  It had a brisk, professional air about it that lifted it out of the rut of normal amateur stage productions.  The off-stage sound effects were as realistic as tape recordings could make them, entrances and exits were executed with a professional finesse and the whole show, from beginning to end, went with a fine swing.  

Faults?  They are so few and so trivial that they hardly worth mentioning.  Ann Skemer's lack of vocal volume, might have made her hard to hear at the back of the theatre, but her acting spoke volumes.  Brian Moulton's rather heavy-handed affection rang slightly out of tune now and then, but his performance in the comedy scenes more  than cancelled out that small fault.

Altogether it was production the Young Wick will have to work hard to equal.

 Don't Listen Ladies

by Sacha Guitry

adapted by Stephen Powys and Guy Bolton

November  3, 4, 5  1960

Directed by Bess Blagden

BB writes in the 6d Programme: "The Young Wick Players have chosen to open the Season [1960/1961] with this play by the well-known French actor and playwright, Sacha Guitry, and they have entered it for the Sussex 3 Act Drama Festival.  As you will see, the play is set in 'one of the best antique shops in Paris', which has given us many problems.  However, through the kindness of our Southwick friends in lending various pieces and, particularly, to Mr. George Hollis-Denis in making one piece really necessary to the action, we hope we have produced a reasonably authentic set.  I am most grateful to Ross Workman, my Associate Producer, who achieved so much in my absence on holiday.  we shall look forward to seeing him as Producer, possibly next year.  We should like to thank you for your support, and we hope to give you some pleasure both tonight and throughout the Season."

Review of the time

A.R.T.

" Charming Breath of French Air "

To say the play was a good one is no idle encomium.  This rather risqué piece with its typically French asides, captured the heart of the audience from the beginning.  The plot concerns a virile middle aged antique dealer, twice married, who cannot escape his reputation as being one for the ladies.  His attractive wife finds an old love letter in his 18th century escritoire and immediately sets out upon a plan of campaign to make him jealous - all to the bewilderment of a faithful husband.

First Wife

Just as things are getting sorted out the first wife "moves in" and the situation is shattered.

The company as a whole must be given credit for attempting this play, which like many adapted works, could so easily have lost its point.  Although he had to be prompted twice Patrick Johnson, as Daniel Bachelet, the antique dealer, deserved praise not only for interpreting the personality of a reformed roué to perfection but also for overcoming a bout of nerves so admirably.  Jean Porter as Madeleine, his second wife, with her efforts at infidelity, gave a convincing performance and brightened the stage with her presence.  The exciting atmosphere of the Moulin Rouge simply oozed from Betty Elliott who talked, walked and looked like an ex-habitue from that famous Paris theatre.  Betty Dawes as Valentine, Daniel's first wife, could perhaps could have done with a little more rehearsing in her part as it required switching from a dowdy, sexless battleaxe whose only interest is poetry, to a slinky, irresistible siren - all in a matter of minutes.

No difficulty 

Raymond Hopper, as Daniel's youthful assistant, was well cast and he found no difficulty with his part, but why he was made to confess his love for Madeleine in the last five minutes of the play is a feature that can be explained only by Sacha Guitry. Madeleine's "fiancé" played by Adrian Hedges gave just the right amount of affectation to be convincing as the young aristocrat and who could not help liking Nicholas Sweet as the porter overflowing with advice gleaned from his long association with the opposite sex?  Ralph Dawes and Patricia Bennett in supporting parts contribute to an excellent evening's theatre.

BRIGHTON AND HOVE GAZETTE

THESPIS

" Players aimed high "

Betty Elliott played Julie Bille-en-Bois, an ex-member of the Moulin Rouge, about the pronunciation of whose name there was a difference of opinion amongst the cast!  At first sight, this faded beauty was an extremely well-observed characterisation but the fact remains that her portrait painted by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec forms an integral feature of the play which takes place in "The Present".  As Toulouse-Lautrec died in 1901, to have been painted at the height of her career, Julie Billie-en-Bois must now be at least eighty years old, Betty Elliott seemed little more than half that age.

The antique dealer, Daniel Bachelet, who is the hub around which the wheel of frivolous intrigue revolves was played by Patrick Johnson; his second wife, Madeleine by Jean Porter; and his first wife, Valentine by Betty Dawes.  Adrian Hedges was really good a  Michael Aubrion recently returned from abroad, and Ralph Dawes was suitable suave and convincing as the Baron de Charancay.  Nicholas Sweet contributed a delightful cameo as a porter with a philosophy of life.  Bachelet's assistant, Blandinet, who is an expert on spiders, was played by Raymond Hopper and Henriette, a maid, by Patricia Bennett. 

Barrie Bowen designed an excellent set, and the play was produced by Bess Blagden in association with Ross Workman.

Brighton & Hove Herald

Reviewer unknown

"  Another Success for Young Wick Players  "
----
A FROTHY FRENCH COMEDY

Set in a Paris antique shop, the play centres on the troubled love life of the proprietor, Daniel Bachelet, twice-married and apparently twice-bitten, for his opinion of the female species is a somewhat jaundiced and embittered one.  There is a wealth of fun as Daniel's past dalliances turn sour on him and wives 1 and 2 pick over his foibles.  There are further complications in the arrival of an 'old flame'.

Patrick Johnson fully merits his selection for the pivotal rôle of Daniel and interprets it with considerable skill.  There are equally able performances by Jean Porter [Madeleine, his second wife] and Betty Dawes [Valentine, his first], both of whom act with verve and polish.  Betty Elliott, as Julie, the ex-actress running to seed, also makes a marked contribution to the fun, and the feminine cast is completed by newcomer Patricia Bennett as Henriette, a maid.

Adrian Hedges, as Michel Aubrion, is the most typical of the amorous Frenchmen introduced, but there are well-sustained performances, too, by Raymond Hopper, Ralph Dawes and Nicholas Sweet.