Storm Glass
Storm is sitting on a cushion on the floor of the dusty old attic. It is a very still, hot afternoon. The old trunk lid is open and strewn around her are an array of very old and rather odd items. She surveys them, and then picks out a faded and tattered old photograph – a sepia snapshot of some long forgotten tea party. Rows of smiling adults and children, all waving flags underneath fluttering bunting. Tracing her finger across the picture, she makes up names in her head for each smiling child. If only she knew their real names, but sadly she knows only one – Harry. Great, Great, Grandad Harry. There he is – sitting cross legged at the front, grinning. And next to him – another little smiling boy waving a flag– who was he? Maybe a long lost uncle? She wishes she knew. She’s always wished she knew, ever since she was big enough to climb the ladder to the attic. But no-one in the family knows anything about these mysterious people or where the picture was taken or the occasion. Only one thing is certain, soon after the picture was taken, everyone in it had to run away – but run away from what? They left to make a new life, her Dad said – but why?
Storm peers closer at the picture– she can just make out a strange ornate glass bottle in Harry’s hand – she looks down at the carpet and picks up what looks like the very same bottle. Her spine tingles, this is a mystery worth solving and she, Storm, will solve it! She tips the bottle slowly, but stops, just as a small gust of wind catches the edge of the photo… Storm smiles.
Written, choreographed and produced by Viv Wormley-Healing
It Runs In The Family
by Ray Cooney.
Set in a hospital, ‘It Runs in the Family’ contains the usual assortment of farcical nuts running in and out of doors mistaking everybody for someone else, as Dr. Mortimore tries to fend off a paternity suit, an ex wife, a punkish son and various other lunatics so that he may, at last, deliver the Ponsonby Lecture in an international conference.
A Stables Theatre production directed by Lyndsey Meer.
Cast
Dr. David Mortimore – Matt Davis
Dr. Mike Connolly – Richard Smith
Dr. Hubert Bonney – Stephen Whitehead
Matron – Pauleen McLaughlin
Lady Wilhelmina Drake – Julia Allen
Jane Tait – Megan Skinner
Rosemary Mortimore – Clare Murray
Leslie – Dan Palmer
Sister – Yvonne Rees
Police Sergeant – Alan Haynes
Bill -David Ames
Mother – Christine Spencer
____________________________________________________________________________________________________-
With grateful thanks to Mark and Andy at
for supplying a very important part of our set!
Made in Dagenham
Battle Light Opera Group transfer their sell-out production to The Stables’ stage after performing to rapturous audiences in May.
Essex 1968. Like millions of other working women, each morning Rita O’Grady is just trying to get her husband out of bed, get the kids off to school and get to work at the factory on time. But life is about to change forever when it’s announced that the girls in the stitching room of Ford’s Dagenham car plant will have their pay grade dropped to ‘unskilled’. Quickly drawing on a strength she never knew she had, Rita leads her friends in a battle against the might of Ford and the corruption of the Union supposed to protect them.
‘Made In Dagenham’ is a funny, touching and timeless tale about ordinary people doing extraordinary things when they stand together. BLOG’s final performances of this hugely popular show have sold out – but you can call the box office on (01424) 423221 to be added to our waiting list in case returns become available.
Director: David Sismore. Musical Director: Lorraine Barry. Choreographer: Hollie Jane Saunters. Artistic Consultant: Sophie-Louise Dann.
PLEASE NOTE: Contains strong language and adult themes.
Cast
Rita O’Grady – Vanessa Trowell
Eddie O’Grady – Alex S. Roberts
Sharon O’Grady – Freya Johnson
Graham O’Grady – Alfie Saunters
Beryl – Kate Dyer
Connie – Sue Wilson
Sandra – Lauren Creasey
Clare – Maisie Weston
Cass – Charlotte Collins
Monty – Colin Adams
Barry – Adam Packham
Rachel – Libby Montagu – Grainger
Emma – Alice Creasey
Cortina Man/Sid/Chubby Chuff – Steve Pickering
Bill/Mr Buckton – Ben Smith
Worker/Government Aide – Adrian Collins
Mr Hopkins – Lee Lyons
Lisa Hopkins – Joanna Flay
Tooley – Rob Dyer
Ron Macer/Worker/Aide – Joe Sykes
Gregory Hubble/Worker/Aide – Oliver Mann
Harold Wilson – Paul Goring
Barbara Castle – Maxine Roach
Liverpool Workers/Ensemble – Alice Creasey, Judy Gilham, Yvette Cook, Jo Doyle, Leanne Clark, Naomi Wareham
Credit: Simon Newbury
Reviews from May 2018
(WARNING: May contain spoilers!)
“A joy to watch” – Rye and Battle Observer
A “funny, moving, high energy and well-polished production” – National Operatic and Dramatic Assoc.
A Battle Light Opera Group production.
Pride and Prejudice
Adapted by Simon Read. Based on the novel by Jane Austen.
Pride and Prejudice is the most famous love story our country has ever produced. In Georgian England, men had property whilst women had smelling salts and piano lessons. At that time women had no legal status. Just as children, they were the property of fathers until marriage when that ownership passed to their husbands. Women could not own or rent property, they could not vote or have a bank account.
With this backdrop, the Bennet daughter’s prospects are not rosy. Without financial independence they have few if any choices. Women sold themselves for a roof over their heads. How could such an arrangement have a happy outcome and yet Jane Austen wrote Pride and Prejudice as a romantic comedy.
The histrionic attempts at match-making by Mrs Bennet and her daughters are undeniably funny but why is it that this back drop of repression still holds our interest today? Is it because Elizabeth Bennet’s and Mr Darcy’s passion is reliant on the restrictions of Regency culture, their passion created by its repression? Or is it that love flourishes no matter how awful the situation in which people find themselves and we do so cherish a love story against all the odds!
Simon Reade’s adaptation for the stage looks with affection at the wit and romance of Jane Austen’s most famous literary romance. An ingenious set and a large cast led by Imogen Willetts, James Slacke, Gini Comyns and Mike Poole will bring you into the enchanting and very funny world of Jane Austen.
A Stables Theatre Production directed by Carol Hunt.
The Time Machine
Presented by Dyad Productions.
From the creators of Jane Eyre: An Autobiography, Christmas Gothic, Dalloway, I, Elizabeth, The Unremarkable Death of Marilyn Monroe, Female Gothic and Austen’s Women.
2018: In this age of uncertainty, where the shadows of tyranny, intolerance and war darken the path into tomorrow, how much time do we have left? If civilisation falls today, what will become of us?
Rebecca Vaughan presents Elton Townend Jones’ radical new interpretation of the HG Wells classic, in which a Victorian time traveller transcends across the ages from 1900 to our own far future – from the fall of man to the end of the world.
Can we change the future? Or has the end already begun?
★★★★★ ‘Outstanding… Amazing… Magic’ (Edinburgh Southside Advertiser)
★★★★ ‘Terrific… grips the imagination… ideas spit off the narrative like sparks from a welder’s torch’ (Quentin Letts, Daily Mail)
★★★★ ‘Brilliant… Captivates and amazes’ (British Theatre Guide)
Austen’s Women
From the creators of Jane Eyre: An Autobiography, Christmas Gothic, Dalloway, I, Elizabeth, Female Gothic and The Unremarkable Death of Marilyn Monroe…
Thirteen of Jane Austen’s heroines come to life in this bold revisiting of some of literature’s most celebrated works. In this much-loved Edinburgh sell-out hit, using only Austen’s words, Rebecca Vaughan (Jane Eyre: An Autobiography, Dalloway, I, Elizabeth, Christmas Gothic) becomes Emma Woodhouse, Lizzy Bennet, Mrs Norris, Miss Bates and nine other beautifully observed women in critical moments from Austen’s major novels (including Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility and Emma) and lesser known or unfinished works.
Directed by Olivier Award winner, Guy Masterson (Morecambe).
★★★★★ ’Truly extraordinary… one of the most exciting young performers on the British stage’ (British Theatre Guide)
★★★★★ ’A theatrical masterpiece… utterly faultless and vastly entertaining’ (Three Weeks)
Diary of a Nobody
by George and Weedon Grossmith, adapted for the stage by Hugh Osborne.
One of English literature’s finest comic novels is brought to life in this fast-paced and lively show that promises fun, laughter, music and theatrical ingenuity.
‘Diary of a Nobody’ describes, in painfully hilarious detail, the simplicities and humiliations, trials and tribulations of 15 months in the life of bumptious and self-important Victorian bank clerk Charles Pooter.
In this inventive stage adaptation, Pooter has decided the world needs to hear his diary, so has enlisted three esteemed thespian chums to help impart the woes of his humdrum existence to anyone who will listen.
A show not to be missed for fans of this classic comic novel and anyone else looking for an evening of hilarity and madcap entertainment.
A Stables Theatre production directed by Rob Hustwayte. Music by Robert Connelly.
Starring
Danny Champion of The World
Adapted for the stage by David Wood. From the book by Roald Dahl.
Auditions: Sunday 17th June 2018, 3pm.
Playing Dates: Wednesday 19th December to Sunday 23rd December
and
Thursday 27th December to Saturday 29th December.
Director: Jane Richardson.
Nine-year-old Danny lives happily with his father in their caravan next to their small filling station and car repair business. One day he discovers Dad has been out poaching pheasants from the estate of the nasty, greedy Victor Hazell. Well, poaching pheasants for the pot is one thing; keeping pheasants purely in order for them to be shot, as Hazell does, is quite another! When Dad doesn’t return from a poaching run, Danny fears the worst, and sets off on a courageous journey to find him. Dad has fallen into a trap set by Hazell and his gamekeepers, but Danny manages to rescue him. Hazell, furious that he’s been outwitted, starts a campaign to throw Dad and Danny out of their home and business. With a little help from the village, Danny soon finds himself masterminding the most incredible and exciting plot ever attempted against Victor Hazell.
The production will be set in a somewhat rose-tinted, nostalgic 1950s – think something along the lines of The Darling Buds of May. It is of course the Stables’ Christmas show, and so needs to have all the larger-than-life fun, laughter and magic that a good Christmas show SHOULD have!
I’m not overly concerned about the characters’ ages (other than Danny, of course!) If you’re right for the part, that’s fine with me.
There will be a LOT of doubling-up; please see below. Actors could have a real ball with this, showing off their repertoire of comic characterisations!
A number of the cast will also need to operate some very simple hand puppets, and it would be great fun if those could become little characters in their own right.
I hope you’ll come along and be a part of one of Roald Dahl’s loveliest stories with me.
Characters
DANNY
Danny is a smashing lad. He’s bright, considerate, as well as brave and not afraid to stand up against unkindness and injustice. Playing age 9/10, though if you’re between say 10-16 years old and think you could be Danny, please come along and audition. Depending on age, experience and availability, I MIGHT cast two Dannys to share the role, but this is by no means definite.
DAD
Dad has looked after Danny by himself ever since his wife died. He’s ‘sparkly and twinkly,’ kind, and great fun. He’s Top Dad. A lovely part.
VICTOR HAZELL
A baddie through and through, with a ‘great, glistening, beery face.’ He’s our pantomime villain – a great fun part!
DR SPENCER
Down-to-earth, sensible, no nonsense, but with a sense of humour and as sharp as a tack. Lovely.
MRS CLIPSTONE
The vicar’s wife. A bit batty. Has a baby in a pram (or is that ALL she has in the pram.…??)
SERGEANT SAMWAYS
The village bobby. No time for nasty types like Hazell. Likes to put on his ‘proper policeman’ voice: ‘What, may I hask, is ‘appenin’ ‘ere?’
CHARLIE KINCH
The village cabbie. ‘Hail fellow well-met,’ salt of the earth.
And here are the doubling-ups:-
Female – Dr Spencer/Head Teacher/Gamekeeper 2/Shooting Party Guest
Female – Mrs Clipstone/Council Inspector/Shooting Party Guest
Male – Sergeant Samways/Shooting Party Guest
Male – Gamekeeper Rabbetts/Ambulance Man
Male – Charlie Kinch/Teacher (Mr Jackson)/Gamekeeper 3/Ambulance Man/Shooting Party Guest
Please take a look at the scenes below that I’d like to hear at the audition, taking note please of the characters’ doubling up.
Danny – solo speeches page 3 and page 86
Dad and Danny – scenes page 3, page 51, on page 51; and page 57 from ‘Your Mum was wonderful.’
Dr Spencer/Dad/Danny – scene page 33
Headteacher/Danny/Hazell/Gamekeeper Rabbetts – scene page 42
Hazell/Dad/Sergeant Samways (Dr Spencer will be ‘read in.’) scene page 73
Charlie Kinch/Dad/Danny – scenes page 6
Mrs Clipstone/Danny/Dad – scene page 8
Council Inspector/Danny – scene page 36
Hazell/Danny/Gamekeeper Rabettes/all Shooting Party – scene page 83.
Any questions, please email me at jane@stablestheatre.co.uk
Scripts are available to hire from the Box Office.
