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FORTHCOMING EVENTSAbigail’s PartyBy
Mike Leigh Directed by Karolyn Szejner 10th
to 13th October 2007 Originally performed as part of BBC's Play for Today series in 1977, Abigail's Party is among Mike Leigh's most celebrated pieces, with his then-wife Alison Steadman taking the lead role. The Abigail of the title never appears--rather, the dull thud of her lively teenage party forms a distant backdrop (and contrast) to an excruciating evening of chilled red wine, olives and the music of Demis Roussos. Beverley an Amazonian mass of frustrated sensuality in a low-cut party frock and her over-stressed estate-agent husband Laurence invite guests Angela, a nurse whose quite spectacular gormlessness shields her from the stilted social awkwardness quietly raging around her, Tony, her taciturn husband and Sue, the gangly and miserably nervous mother of Abigail. The play mercilessly turns the screw of embarrassment through a series of too-true-to-life exchanges of dialogue, the stuff of all our collective worst memories of encounters with neighbours, aunts and office colleagues. Decades on, Abigail's Party is as psychologically true and close to home as ever--hard to bear but utterly brilliant.
One
Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
By
Ken Casey Directed by Paul McGowan 5th to 8th December 2007 Randle Patrick
McMurphy (famously played by Jack Nicholson in the film), a criminal who
has been sentenced to a fairly short prison term, decides to have
himself declared insane so he'll be transferred to a mental institution,
where he expects to serve the rest of his term in (comparative) comfort
and luxury.
Don’t
Dress for Dinner
By
Mark Camoletti Directed by Paul Mason 12th
to 15th March 2008 When Jacqueline decides to visit her mother for a few days, her husband, Bernard sees the opportunity of a cozy weekend with his new mistress. His best friend, Robert rings up to announce his return from Hong Kong, so Bernard invites him along as his alibi, also hiring a Cordon Bleu cook to ensure they don’t go hungry. Convinced his plan is foolproof, Bernard is taking his wife’s suitcase out to the car, when the phone rings and she answers it. From then on the story moves into the surreal world of high-speed farce, with mistaken identities, clandestine relationships, hasty improvisation, all carried along on a stream of rapid-fire, double-meaning dialogue. One impossible situation piles on another, as the hapless Robert finds himself the target of amorous attentions from all three ladies, Bernard tries frantically to salvage at least a scrap of illicit bliss from the wreckage of his weekend, and his intended playmate, the glamorous Suzanne, ends up in the kitchen, expected to cook dinner, while Suzette, the cook, is transformed into a femme fatale!
The
Matchmaker
By
Thornton Wilder Directed by Dorothy Perkins 14th
to 17th May 2008 Perhaps most famous for the 1969 musical version "Hello, Dolly", starring Barbara Streisand, Walter Matthau and our very own Michael Crawford (pre Frank Spencer) The Matchmaker tells the story of Dolly Gallagher Levi trying to arrange a marriage between Yonkers dry-goods merchant Horace Vandergelder and hatmaker Irene Molloy although she secretly harbors a desire to march Horace to the altar herself. Vandergelder's chief clerk Cornelius, celebrating a recent promotion, decides to head to New York for a "good time" with fellow-clerk Barnaby in tow. Inevitably, Cornelius and Barnaby wind up escorting Irene Molloy and her co-worker Minnie Fay to a fancy restaurant, where Horace and Dolly are also dining. As the many plot twists wend their way through the proceedings will Dolly Levi get her man?
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