Synopsis
Unable to sleep, Elaine Wheeler paces the living room of her Manhattan townhouse, troubled by unsettling memories and vague fears. Her husband tries to comfort her, but when he steps away for a moment, Elaine screams as she sees (or believes she sees) the body of a dead man in the window across the way. The police find nothing except an empty chair. Elaine’s terror grows as, shortly thereafter, she sees another body – this time a woman’s – but by now the police are skeptical and pay no heed to her frantic pleas. Her husband, claiming that Elaine may be on the verge of a breakdown, calls in a psychiatrist, who agrees with his suggestion that Elaine should commit herself to a sanitarium for treatment. The plot moves quickly and grippingly as those involved – Elaine’s old friend and house guest Blanche; the inquisitive and rather sinister man who lives next door; and the nosy German maid Helga – all contribute to the deepening suspense as the play draws towards its riveting and chilling climax.
Production Details
"Night Watch" by Lucille Fletcher
Director: Edwina Gascoyne
Location: Sheffield Library Theatre
Dates: 14th - 18th October 2003
Tickets: £4 / £5
Cast
Elaine Wheeler - Judith Wade
John Wheeler - Tony Webb
Helga - Carolyn Heslop
Vanelli - Ric Waterhouse
Curtis Appleby - David Bramah
Blanche Cooke - Andrea Howard
Lieutenant Walker - Brian Parker
Dr Tracey Lake - Abbie McGrail
Sam Hoke - Peter Howard
Crew
Director - Edwina Gascoyne
Set Design and Construction - Peter Howard, Bryan Ashcroft, John Jakins, Nick Martin
Stage Manager - Peter Howard
Lighting - John Jakins
Sound - Bryan Ashcroft
Properties - Carolyn Heslop
Continuity - Abbie McGrail
Front of House - Martyn Jones
Ticket Secretaries - Arthur Jakins / Joan Jakins
Synopsis
On Golden Pond is a classic American comedic drama that's every bit as touching, warm, and witty today as when it debuted off Broadway in 1978. Retired couple Ethel and Norman Thayer are spending their 48th summer at their vacation home on Golden Pond, in the woods of Maine. Their delightful summer routine - fishing, picking strawberries, enjoying old mementoes, listening to the loons call - is given a bitterly comedic edge by Norman’s unreliable memory and cantankerously morbid statements. When their daughter Chelsea visits for Norman’s 80th birthday, bringing her boyfriend Bill and Bill’s teenage son, Billy Jr., the whole family must come to grips with Norman and Chelsea’s mutual bitterness, while Norman blossoms with his chance to mentor young Billy. The turbulent relationship between father and daughter, the generation gap between young and old, and the difficulties of a couple in the twilight years of a long marriage, all combine in a play that effortlessly illustrates the hilarious, heartbreaking, human moments of which life is made.
Production Details
"On Golden Pond" by Ernest Thompson
Director: Peter Howard
Location: Sheffield Library Theatre
Dates: 13th - 17th May 2003
Tickets: £5 / £6
Cast
Norman Thayer Jr - Brian Parker
Ethel Thayer - Maureen Heath
Charlie Martin - Martyn Jones
Chelsea Thayer Wayne - Edwina Gascoyne
Billy Ray - Jamie Barber
Bill Ray - Chris Rooke
Crew
Director - Peter Howard
Set Design and Construction - Peter Howard, Nick Martin, Bryan Ashcroft, Terry Bell, John Jakins, Nick Martin, Tony Webb
Stage Manager - Ric Waterhouse
Lighting - John Jakins
Sound - Bryan Ashcroft
Continuity - Andrea Howard
Front of House - Carolyn Heslop
Tickets - Arthur Jakins / Joan Jakins
Synopsis
Habeas Corpus was first performed at the Lyric Theatre in London on 10 May 1973, with Alec Guinness and Margaret Courtenay in the lead roles. Bennett's first play, written in 1973, it is a comedy set in Brighton in the 1960s where the lust and longing of the permissive society has well and truly taken hold of the apparently respectable Wicksteed family.
The aging Dr. Arthur Wicksteed pursues his nubile patient, Felicity Rumpers. Wicksteed's wife Muriel lusts after the charming head of the BMA, Sir Percy Shorter. Shorter as well as being Wicksteed's old rival, turns out to be Felicity's father - the result of an under-the-table liaison during an air-raid with Lady Rumpers, her mother. Meanwhile, Wicksteed's spinster-sister Connie, ashamed of her flat-chestedness, has schemes of her own. Like some saucy Magill seaside postcard as retouched by Magritte, or an end-of-the-pier romp reorganised by Orton, the piece shows how a collection of stock types from Hove find themselves propelled into the permissive society with the arrival of a false-breast fitter from Leatherhead. Identities are mistaken, the wrong knockers admiringly fondled, and libidos burst out of enforced hibernation.
Production Details
"Habeus Corpus" by Alan Bennett
Director: Phil Gascoyne
Location: Sheffield Library Theatre
Dates: 11th - 15th February 2003
Tickets: £4 / £5
Cast
Arthur Wicksteed - Phil Gascoyne
Murial Wicksteed - Judith Wade
Dennis Wicksteed - Ric Waterhouse
Constance Wicksteed - Lauren Fletcher
Mrs Swabb - Paul Wilkinson
Canon Throbbing - Ian Walker
Lady Rumpers - Andrea Howard
Felicity Rumpers - Sarah Atkinson
Mr Shanks - Mike Smith
Sir Percy Shorter - Brian Parker
Mr Purdue - David Bramah
Crew
Director - Phil Gascoyne
Set Design and Construction - Phil Gascoyne, Peter Howard, Bryan Ashcroft, John Jakins, Nick Martin, Tony Webb
Stage Managers - Peter Howard, John Jakins
Lighting - Paul Screaton
Sound - Bryan Ashcroft
Choreography - Edwina Gascoyne
Front of House - Tony Webb
Tickets - Arthur Jakins / Joan Jakins
PRESS
Review by Marion Heywood
It's 30 years since Alan Bennett wrote this farce, but it's worn very well.
Set in the ‘swinging’ sixties this is a very well-crafted and very witty satire about sex and sexual morality that hardly seems to have dated at all. Directing a play as complex as this is a big enough challenge without having to play the lead part as well. So congratulations to Tudor Players’ Phil Gascoyne who does indeed direct and who also took on the role of Arthur Wicksteed.
Wicksteed is the most rounded character in the play: a cynical GP with real problems about the doctor-patient relationship and given to moribund musings about life, death and the universe.
Judith Wade is spot on as Muriel, Wicksteed's long-suffering wife, and would be seductress of the hapless Mr Shanks deftly played by Mike Smith in spite of the underpants. Ric Waterhouse is good, too, as Wicksteed's sexually charged son, Dennis. Or is it Graham?
Sarah Atkinson is a most fetching Felicity Rumpers and Andrea Howard makes the most of her role as Lady Rumpers. Though why she is kitted out in Victorian costume is rather unclear. Lauren Fletcher is really rather wonderful as the flat-chested Constance Wicksteed and Ian Walker is toe-curlingly funny as her fiancé the virginal Canon Throbbing, aka ‘the priest with five fingers.’ Paul Wilkinson makes a most convincing Mrs Swabb and David Bramah wanders in and out to great effect as the suicidal Mr Purdue. Peter Howard, drafted in at very short notice to take on the role of Sir Percy Shorter, copes rather well in spite of being far too tall for the part.
Bennett originally stipulated that his farce should be played on a bare stage without any of the trappings of farce. He warned it wouldn't work otherwise. Set designers Phil Gascoyne (the ubiquitous) and Peter Howard haven't opted for a bare stage, but their design is simple and effective. Yes, the play does work. Lighting (Paul Screaton) is impressive. A most entertaining evening.
Synopsis
Twenty-five years ago, the Helliwells, the Parkers and the Soppitts were married on the same day by the same parson. They gather at the Helliwell home to celebrate their silver wedding. The new chapel organist tells them that he recently met the parson who conducted the triple wedding ceremony – he was not authorised to do so. Pandemonium breaks out when these pillars of society believe they have been living in sin for 25 years.
When We Are Married was first performed at the St. Martin's Theatre, London, on October 11, 1938.
Production Details
"When We Are Married" by J. B. Priestley
Director: Peter Howard
Location: Sheffield Library Theatre
Dates: 15th - 19th October 2002
Tickets: £5 / £4
Cast
Ruby Birtle - Adele Walker
Gerald Forbes - Ric Waterhouse
Mrs Northrup - Maureen Heath
Nancy Holmes - Sarah Atkinson
Fred Dyson - John Jakins
Henry Ormonroyd - Tony Webb
Joseph Helliwell - Ian Walker
Maria Helliwell - Andrea Howard
Albert Parker - David Bramah
Herbert Soppitt - Mike Smith
Clara Soppitt - Edwina Gascoyne
Annie Parker - Carolyn Heslop
Lottie Grady - Judith Wade
Rev. Clement Mercer - Phil Howden
Crew
Director - Peter Howard
Set Design and Construction - Peter Howard, Bryan Parker, Brian Ashcroft, Nick Martin
Stage Manager - John Jakins / Ric Waterhouse
Lighting - Brian Ashcroft
Sound - Brian Ashcroft
Properties - Members of the cast
Costumes - Pearl Kelly
Continuity - Sarah Atkinson / Judith Wade
Front of House - Brian Parker
Tickets - Arthur Jakins / Joan Jakins
Synopsis
Full of warmth, understanding and humour, this is an affectionate and appealing portrait of an ordinary family struggling with change, bereavement and the generation gap. On his graduation day in 1978, John looks back over his teenage years, from 1967-1973, recalling all the embarrassments, tensions, joys and sorrows of family life in West Yorkshire. Older and better educated, he finds himself alienated from his working-class family who cannot understand his growing intellect and theatrical aspirations.
Production Details
"Happy Families" by John Godber
Director: Brian Parker
Location: Sheffield Library Theatre
Dates: 14th - 18th May 2002
Tickets: £3.50 / £4.50
Cast
John Taylor - Ross Bannister
Dot Taylor - Edwina Gascoyne
Vic Taylor - Rod Duncan
Liz Hickman - Maureen Heath
Jack Hickman - Peter Howard
Aunty Doris - Paula Di Nitto
Aunty Edna - Judith Wade
Rebecca / Lynn Sutton - Anna Hall
Crew
Director - Brian Parker
Set Design and Construction - Brian Parker, Bryan Ashcroft, John Jakins, Nick Martin, Richard Waterhouse
Artwork - Tony Webb
Stage Manager - John Jakins
Lighting - Mike Smith
Sound - Bryan Ashcroft
Properties - Carolyn Heslop
Costumes - Pearl Kelly
Continuity - Andrea Howard
Front of House - David Bramah
Ticket Secretaries - Arthur Jakins / Joan Jakins
Synopsis
A play about the Sheffield Blitz, the air raids on Sheffield of 12-13 December 1940.
This documentary is based on her childhood memories and Sheffield civilians' experiences during those days.
This production was originally written for a 1987 production at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield.
Production Details
"It's a Bit Lively Outside" by Joyce Holliday
Director: Phil Gascoyne
Location: Sheffield Library Theatre
Dates: 5th - 9th February 2002
Tickets: £3.50 / £4.50
Cast
All parts played by members of The Company:
Ross Bannister, Ged Binney, David Bramah, Kevin Brennan, Leanne Carter, Jael Davidson, Paula Di Nitto, Edwina Gascoyne, Sheila Gascoyne, Judith Gray, Anna Hall, Maureen Heath, Andrea Howard, Peter Howard, John Jakins, Emma Kelly, Sarah Lamb, Jack Massey, Kay Massey, Lian Nicholson, Jan Oxley, Brian Parker, Janet Rollett, Anne Sherratt, Mike Smith, Judith Wade, Adam Walker, Ian Walker, Ric Waterhouse, Tony Webb, Paul Wilkinson
and The Children:
Tyler Bower, Cathryn Driver, Rebecca Schofield, Ryan Stuchbury, Joseph Wright
Crew
Director - Phil Gascoyne
Production Team - Phil Gascoyne, Peter Howard, Jack Massey
Set Design and Construction - Nick Martin, Bryan Ashcroft, Brian Parker
Stage Managers - Members of the cast
Lighting - Paul Screaton
Sound - Bryan Ashcroft
Music - Hugh Finnegan
Properties - Jack Massey
Costumes - Pearl Kelly
Choreography - Edwina Gascoyne
Continuity - Janet Rollett / Paula Di Nitto
Front of House - Members of Tudor Players
Ticket Secretary - Doreen Utley