Loot

by Joe Orton

March  7, 8, 9, 10  2001

directed by Hannah Collis  

Joe Orton's reputation for dramatic writing has rested mainly on just three full-length plays: Entertaining Mr. Sloane [1964], Loot [1066], and What the Butler Saw [staged posthumously, 1969].  In their time - which was still the time of the Lord Chamberlain's power of censorship over the theatre - these were controversial plays, because of the casual immorality of the characters and their irreverence or 'tastelessness' of some of the subject matter.  But, with the passing of time, other more classic qualities have become clearer.  Joe Orton actually stands in a long line of comedy playwrights, from Congreve and Sheridan, through Wilde and Coward, for whom the comedy is in the style rather than the substance.  The situations are absurd and the characters are exaggerated, while their language and reactions are outrageously superficial.  It's a wicked combination.

Dandy Dick

by Arthur Wing Pinero

May  23, 24, 25, 26  2001

directed by  Olive Smith

Pinero and His Plays - from an introduction by Denys Blakelock: "Arthur Wing Pinero was a past master at creating comedy situations and entertaining lines.  His specially written plays for the Old court theatre The Magistrate in 1885 and The Schoolmistress in 1886 began his long successful career as a comic dramatist and were followed in 1887 by Dandy Dick which ran for 171 performances at the Royal Court and another 75 when it was transferred to Toole's Theatre.

Pinero wrote with great carefulness and scrupulous attention to detail.  He was reputed to take the best part of a year over a play before it satisfied him.  He brought to his writing a special gift for delineation of character and the suggestion of a fundamental reality underlying the extravagances of the convention.  This talent of giving his characters an essential core of truth has the effect of keeping the wild improbability of the situations he creates JUST within the bounds of our acceptance!"

The Director understands that character of Noah Topping was inspired by the rural constable of a village adjacent to Brighton - but hasn't yet discovered which one!

A Month of Sundays

 by Bob Larbey

June  28, 29, 30  2001

Directed by Jan King

There was no programme note

The Real Inspector Hound

by Tom Stoppard

Directed by Simon Druce

Black & Silver

by Michael Frayn

Directed by Peter Thompson

August  9, 10, 11  2001

This production is the second in an exciting new development for Wick.  We are now expanding our traditional season of four productions, up to six a year - or more.  And at least two of those  will now be performed in a 'studio' style.  Sometimes this will man that plays will be presented 'in the round', with the audience sitting around the acting area, in the main body of the Barn.  Sometimes it may be presented in the even more intimate area of the big new stage.  In any event, the maximum audience will be no more than 100 people - and all the action will be very direct and 'close-up'!

Tonight it is a double bill - by two of the masters of modern British comedy.  Black and Silver by Michael Frayn is a brilliant comic miniature, by the playwright of Noises Off.  It's a nightmare farce, as a young couple revisit the scene of their happy honeymoon hotel - but this time with the handicap of having to share their room with their own screaming baby.  The Real Inspector Hound, by Tom Stoppard, is an acknowledged comedy masterpiece.  It's the ultimate spoof on the Agatha Christie 'whodunnit' - and a whole lot more besides!

This production marks the directing debut of both Peter Thompson and Simon Druce.  They are two of the six Wick members in 2001preenting their first productions for the Company.  This is a sure sign o the 'strength in depth' that Wick Theatre company can now draw upon.  We wish Simon and Peter and their stage and backstage crew, all the very best for a successful production and for a demonstration of an extra style of theatre now on offer at the Barn.  

Black and Silver

The Real Inspector Hound

The Madness of George lll

by Alan Bennett

October  3, 4, 5, 6  2001

Directed by Bob Ryder 

BR wrote: " When I first directed a production for Wick Theatre Company, exactly ten years ago, the play was Habeas Corpus, by a certain Alan Bennett.  It's a generous play [much more so than Joe Orton material which it echoes] and is packed with music-hall gags and earthy humour of the seaside postcard.  At its heart is a sharp feeling of human frailty.  In life there is death, it seems to say, but laughter serves to hold our fears at bay.  The fact that two of the play's main comic characters are doctors, out of their depth in the tide of mortality, ties all this together rather nicely.

So here we are, at the Barn, ten years later, with a Bennett play that on the face of it is totally different, but in essence is very similar - the generosity, the humour, the keen sense of mortality and the ways the resourceful human spirit copes with it.  The reappearance of 'comedy doctors' is no mere coincidence either! 

The challenges of producing George would make most theatre companies turn tail.  Its scale is impossible for any unsubsidised professional group, because of the economics.  Amateur groups don't have to pay wages, but they still need to have real strength in depth, in their acting resources and their technical teams.  It is a tribute to Wick Theatre Company that they have built up their membership, the skills and the sheer ambition to take on challenges of this type.

A particular question in the staging of George is how to present almost 40 scenes, some them very short, as smoothly as possible.  In fact, the jumps  time and place, and the number of them, are not unlike the plays of Shakespeare.  Our approach has therefore been to use the same  free-flowing style that we have developed for Shakespeare productions at the Barn - where action unfolds quickly on a single set, and where no fittings, furniture or props appear unless they are directly used in the action.

I hope you enjoy this production and the efforts of all those involved in making it happen.  A special welcome is due to Simon Birks, Malcolm Wood, Sid Jones, Eric Seymour and David Pierce, for whom this is their first production for Wick."

Drama Festival

• Best Design & Publicity
• Best Set
• Best Director
• Runner-up to Best Production
• Merit for Best Lighting
• Nomination for Best Actor

Honk!

Music by George Stiles 
Book & Lyrics by Anthony Drewe

December  28, 29 [+mat]  2001
January 3, 4, 5 {+mat]  2002

Directed by Rols Ham-Riche

R H-R wrote: "Welcome to the Wick's Christmas production.  This wonderful musical, telling the story of the Ugly Duckling, was written in 1993 and hatched at the Watermill Theatre, Newbury under the title The Ugly Duckling or the Aesthetically Challenged Farmyard Fowl.  A revised version appeared in 1997 at Alan Ayckbourn's Steven Joseph Theatre in Scarborough under the title Honk!  Its quality was recognised when it won 'Best New Musical' at the 2000 Olivier Awards and was revived at the National Theatre for a sell out season.

Our production ids the first time a full-scale version has been seen in Sussex.  It is perhaps the biggest and certainly the most technically and musically challenging show Wick has ever tackled.  This is the ultimate family show - starring a mother and daughter, an uncle and niece and two unhatched ducklings!" 

The baby ducklings stole the show.  I have rarely seen such well disciplined and happy looking children on stage!  They all knew their words and were unfailingly cheerful.  I should have hated to have them as siblings!  Imogen's yawns just added to the delight!  Well done all concerned.

Ugly [Peter Winstone] carried the central rôle with charm and innocent enjoyment.  His smile never failed him, even as he was being loaded into the Aga to be the cat's dinner - did he really not know his fate?!!  Adrian as the Cat was pure evil and insinuation.  I would have liked to see lots more tap dancing though!  Tony Muzzall's Bullfrog was a gem; a lovely performance, thank you Tony.  Jo Hopper's Ida and Dan Newman's Drake also held their rôles well as the parents of such an unusual brood. Hazel Starns was brilliant in all her rôles, Queenie especially.

The whole cast was required to be very versatile and active throughout the show.  Quick changes of both costume and character were demanding and successfully achieved by all the small company. I would have thought that a larger company could have been used just as effectively; to see the same face in different rôles can add to the audience's confusion.

There was indeed some confusion to the story line.  The cast all knew who they were, but if the audience is unsure it can hinder their full appreciation of the piece!  What kind of fowl, for instance, is dressed in Tartan and speaks with a Scottish accent?  What kind of duck is green?  Or was she a moorhen?  This was, unfortunately, often the result of poor diction or projection in the singing.  The mikes were not ideally placed for all the singers; I don't like them much, but I did wonder if a few radio mikes might have made the difference.  I also felt that the orchestra's position, right across the front of the stage, served to drown out some of the voices.  A good attempt was, nonetheless, made at a very ambitious score.

The costuming was interesting, colourful and imaginative.  But, in the interest of ensuring that the audience understands the plot line, I felt there was something lacking in the depiction of animals as human.  I would have liked the cat, for instance, to have had a tail, or ears, just to clarify his character.  [My elderly companion did not realise he was a cat.]

The set was delightfully decorated with bulrushes and irises, and the kitchen set was straight out of pantomime!  Other notable points of the production were the magnificent snow scene, Adrian and Hazel's 'cat duet', the flying routine - I just loved the air stewardess.  The row of eggs, with the giant one in the middle and the image of Derek as a frog will remain for quite a while.  The music was rousing and enjoyable, with the usual romance and pathos thrown in.  Well done to all the cast, and the production team for a good show.

This was a very enjoyable Christmas entertainment, well worth the visit.  It was a pity that the audiences did not reflect the quality of the performances.