Synopsis
L'Hôtel du Libre échange ("Free Exchange Hotel") is a comedy written by the French playwrights Georges Feydeau and Maurice Desvallières. The play takes place in Paris in the 19th century, and follows two Parisian households and their friends over the course of two days. The play has three acts; acts one and three take place in Monsieur Pinglet's office, while act two takes place in Hôtel du Libre échange, a small Paris hotel.
The play has been translated into several other languages, including Peter Glenville's adaptation under the title Hotel Paradiso, which first opened in London in 1956, starring Alec Guinness and on Broadway in 1957, starring Bert Lahr.
In August 1984 the play, now entitled A Little Hotel on the Side, and adapted by John Mortimer, opened at the National Theatre, Olivier Auditorium, with a cast led by Graeme Garden. The Tudor Players production is inspired by both of these adaptations.
The first French production was at the Théâtre des Nouveautés, Paris on 5 December 1894. The Annales du théâtre et de la musique, noting that the laughter reverberated inside and out of the auditorium, said that a reviewer could only laugh and applaud rather than criticise. Another critic, predicting a long run, wrote that he and his colleagues would not be needed at the Nouveautés in their professional capacities for a year or so, but would know where to come if they wanted to laugh. The play ran for 371 performances.
Production Details
"Hotel Paradiso" by Georges Feydeau and Maurice Desvallières
Director: Roger Bingham
Location: Sheffield Library Theatre
Dates: 10th - 14th October 2016
Tickets: £8 / £9
Cast
Cast
Cast
Monsieur Boniface - Phil Gascoyne
Madame Boniface - Edwina Gascoyne
Madame Cot - Anita Gilbert
Monsieur Cot - Rod Duncan
Maxime - Joe Thompson
Victoire - Charlotte Gascoyne
Monsieur Martin - Bill Darwin
Paquerette - Chloe Winter
Pervenche - Hannah Fagan
Violette - Lila Gilbert
Marguerite - Charlotte Rawlings
Anniello - John Fereday
Georges - John M
Monsieur Boniface - Phil Gascoyne
Madame Boniface - Edwina Gascoyne
Madame Cot - Anita Gilbert
Monsieur Cot - Rod Duncan
Maxime - Joe Thompson
Victoire - Charlotte Gascoyne
Monsieur Martin - Bill Darwin
Paquerette - Chloe Winter
Pervenche - Hannah Fagan
Violette - Lila Gilbert
Marguerite - Charlotte Rawlings
Anniello - John Fereday
Georges - John Moran
Lady - Andrea Howard
Gentleman - Tom Boydell
Madame Pacquet - Pam Bush
Inspector - John Pashley
Porter / Policeman - James McCready
Crew
Cast
Cast
Director - Roger Bingham
Set Design and Construction - Hansel D'Roza, Roger Bingham, John Jakins, Paul Kelly, Graham Ward, David Parkin, Jenn Aspinall, John Moran
Lighting - Paul Screaton
Sound - John Jakins
Stage Manager - Bridget Ball
Stage Crew - Hansel D’Roza, Anthony Maycock, Marcus Newman, Alistair Lynn
Properties - Bridget Ball
Wardrobe -
Director - Roger Bingham
Set Design and Construction - Hansel D'Roza, Roger Bingham, John Jakins, Paul Kelly, Graham Ward, David Parkin, Jenn Aspinall, John Moran
Lighting - Paul Screaton
Sound - John Jakins
Stage Manager - Bridget Ball
Stage Crew - Hansel D’Roza, Anthony Maycock, Marcus Newman, Alistair Lynn
Properties - Bridget Ball
Wardrobe - Janet D'Roza
Continuity - Andrea Howard
Front of House - Carolyn Heslop
Ticket Secretary - Janet D'Roza
PRESS
By Stephen F. Grigg (stevefgrigg@hotmail.com)
Tudor Players' latest offering is a French farce written by George Feydeau and Maurice Desvallieres. Interestingly the least amusing part about the play is the titular, middle act. This is where the extra marital shenanigans between Phil Gascoyne's Monsieur Boniface and Anita Gilbert's Madame Cot take place. However the hotel set is an intricate, terrific piece of artistry from Hansel D'Roza and Roger Bingham. The latter also expertly directs the show with a cast of 18. Far more laugh out loud and entertaining are the first act and third act which take place at the Boniface home.
Here the illicit couple plan and subsequently try to hide their backfiring mischief. Relatively innocent parties in all this are the spouses of the would-be adulterers. Edwina Gascoyne plays Madame Boniface and Rod Duncan plays amateur ghost-buster and architect Monsieur Cot. Much of the fun comes as real life husband and wife Phil and Edwina Gascoyne's dialogue comes at the expense of the other as the Bonifaces bicker. Edwina asks Phil which material of two he prefers. Naturally she chooses the one he didn't pick. When Edwina says she'd throw herself at a man, Phil feigns concern with a no. But an aside to the audience is, "she'd crush him".
Joe Thompson and Charlotte Gascoyne star as young couple, Maxime and Victoire. Bill Darwin is Monsieur Martin. His four daughters with the spooky song are Chloe Winter, Hannah Fagan, Lila Gilbert and Charlotte Rawlings, John Fereday is Anniello the hotel owner and John Moran plays Georges the bellhop.
Synopsis
All is not well in the Humble Hive. Thirty-five year old Felix Humble is a Cambridge astro-physicist in search of a unified field theory. Felix is drawn back to his family home after the death of his father, a biology teacher and amateur beekeeper. There in the garden he finds his waspish mother Flora, her downtrodden friend Mercy and suspiciously ever-present local businessman George Pye, whose daughter Rosie was once involved with Felix. A luncheon is arranged…
Felix discovers that solving the riddle of his emotional life is considerably more challenging than the quest for a unified string theory.
Production Details
"Humble Boy" by Charlotte Jones
Director: Phil Gascoyne
Location: Sheffield Library Theatre
Dates: 17th - 21st May 2016
Tickets: £8 / £9
Cast
Cast
Cast
Felix Humble - John Moran
Mercy Lott - Andrea Howard
Flora Humble - Edwina Gascoyne
Jim (the gardener) - Kevin Cheeseright
George Pye - Roger Bingham
Rosie Pye - Charlotte Gascoyne
Crew
Cast
Cast
Director - Phil Gascoyne
Set Design and Construction - Hansel D'Roza, Phil Gascoyne, Bradley D’Roza, John Jakins, Paul Kelly, David Parkin, Graham Ward
Lighting - Paul Kelly / Paul Screaton
Sound - John Jakins
Stage Manager - Bridget Ball
Properties - Bridget Ball / Chloe Winter
Continuity - Pam Bush / Carolyn Heslop
Front of House - Friends of Tudor
Ticket Secretary - Janet D'Roza
Synopsis
The UK is in crisis: debt is spiralling, unemployment is on the rise and the fragile coalition cabinet, led by Prime Minister Jim Hacker, is at breaking point. But salvation may exist in the form of a complex pipeline deal with the oil-rich country of Kumranistan that would entitle the government to a multi-trillion pound loan. When the Kumranistan Foreign Secretary makes a shocking request of Jim's Private Secretary Bernard Woolley, moral considerations collide with the economic future of the nation. But how will Jim and his team: Bernard, Cabinet Secretary Sir Humphrey Appleby, and Special Adviser Claire Sutton, reconcile the two? Political machinations, media manipulation and an appeal for divine intervention ensue.
From the writers of the original television series Yes, Minister and Yes, Prime Minister, comes the equally sharply satirical stage version, seen at the Festival Theatre, Chichester in 2010 and the Gielgud Theatre, London, in 2011, followed by a tour in 2012.
Production Details
"Yes, Prime Minister" by Anthony Jay & Jonathan Lynn
Director: Edwina Gascoyne
Location: Sheffield Library Theatre
Dates: 16th - 20th February 2016
Tickets: £8 / £9
Cast
Bernard Woolley, Principal Private Secretary to the Prime Minister - Ross Bannister
Sir Humphrey Appleby, Cabinet Secretary - Phil Gascoyne
Rt. Hon. Jim Hacker MP, Prime Minister - Rod Duncan
Claire Sutton, Special Policy Adviser - Jenn Aspinall
Kumranistan Ambassador - John Fereday
Jeremy Burnham, Director-General of the BBC - Kevin Cheeseright
Simon Chester, BBC presenter - Joe Thompson
Crew
Director - Edwina Gascoyne
Set Design and Construction - Hansel D'Roza, Edwina Gascoyne, David Parkin, Graham Ward, John Jakins, Paul Kelly
Lighting - Paul Kelly / Paul Screaton
Sound - John Jakins
Stage Manager - Hansel D'Roza
Properties - Bridget Ball
Continuity - Andrea Howard
Front of House - Charlotte Gascoyne
Ticket Secretary - Janet D'Roza
PRESS
Review by Marion Haywood
It’s now thirty years since the BBC first screened Yes, Prime Minister. Back then it was a mega critical and popular success - and reportedly Mrs Thatcher’s favourite television programme. Wow. Really?
This adaptation for stage, dating from 2012, is no museum piece: it’s a relevant and riveting political satire. It’s fresh, razor sharp, meticulously plotted - and more to the point, outrageously funny. It all turns on the relationship between the Prime Minister, Jim Hacker and his Cabinet Secretary, Sir Humphrey Appleby. The one thinks he’s in charge, the other knows who’s really the boss. It’s a classic take on servant turned master that works a treat.
It’s a big ask for amateur actors to make such iconic roles their own, but Rod Duncan (Jim Hacker) and Phil Gascoyne (Sir Humphrey) do just that. Terrific performances from the pair of them. Ross Bannister is good, too, as the PM’s Private Secretary, caught in the middle of all the wheeling and dealing. Jenn Aspinall makes for a super cool Policy Advisor, whether she’s fielding awkward questions from the BBC or engaged in “horizontal diplomacy” - finding call girls for some embassy attaché.
John Fereday is a delight as the decidedly dodgy, politically incorrect Kumranistan Ambassador, and there’s sound support from Kevin Cheeseright as the bloke in charge of the BBC, and Joe Thompson as a BBC presenter.
It’s exceptionally well directed by Edwina Gascoyne, with spot-on ensemble playing throughout from the cast. The set’s pretty good, too. All in all, a knockout start to Tudor Players new season.