From 2002 onwards...January 2002 : Bouncers and Shakers

Two One Act Comedy Plays by John Godber/Jane Thornton From 23rd to 26th January 2002 By John Godber / Jane Thornton Two hilarious one act plays showing a world that only the drunk and nocturnal usually see:It's Friday night and it's disco night. Time for Bouncers to come alive! In this outrageous parody of the contemporary disco scene, four brutish bouncers playing many different characters invite us for a night out on the town. We meet giggly girls, lads on the make, pogoing punks and smooth-talking DJs, all against the tatty, glitzy glamour, the flashing lights and the pulsating beats of the disco floor. Every town has its Shakers, the oh-so trendy cocktail bar where everyone wants to be seen, from the checkout girls to the chinless wonders, from the yuppies to the local lads, sniggering at the thought of a 'long slow comfortable screw'. Four long-suffering waitresses, offering their views of the reality that lurks behind the plastic palms and the pina coladas, give us a glimpse of this world. For further information on the either of the plays or the writer "John Godber", or any other of his works, check out: www.johngodber.co.uk

August 2002 : One Damned Thing After Another

Life is just that according to Elbert Hubbard. -OoO- An evening of prose and poetry charting our journey from birth to death. -oOo-

November 2002 : The Killing Of Sister George

THE KILLING OF SISTER GEORGE

BY FRANK MARCUS

Soaps seem to be part of our lives today. Coronation Street, East Enders, Emmerdale etc., dominate our TV screens and provide ample material for office and workshop speculation and gossip. Many people seem almost to regard them as real life.

In this dark comedy by Frank Marcus, Sister George is the goody-goody heroine of Applehurst, an everyday story of country folk, on BBC radio daily. Pop-popping around the village on her scooter, District Nurse Sister George dispenses wisdom and bonhomie to all and sundry, and is as much revered by the nation at large as she is in fictional Applehurst.

However, George represents the nice side of June Buckridge, the actress who plays her on the radio. In her private life, George is a brawling, bullying, hard drinking and abusive lesbian, who is not averse to knocking about her submissive live-in lover, Alice (Childie) McNaught, in order to bend her to her will.

When the BBC decide to kill off Sister George to improve the Applehurst ratings, the sparks really begin to fly.

BBC executive Mrs Mercy Croft, arrives to steal Alice away from June, while at the same time knocking off June's radio character. June's friend and confidante, the mysterious Madame Xenia, tries to help with her cod psychometry, but in the end to little avail.

There is one inevitable victim. Rowdy and tough and irascible, June races fast towards self-destruction, as fast as the blithely innocent Sister George on her scooter.

Charles Garrett

Director

March 2003 : BlueRememberedHills/SecondFromLastInTheSackRace

Originally conceived for television, this seems at first a simple tale of a group of 7 year-olds on a summer's day in rural Gloucestershire in the 1940s - but the simplicity is deceptive. As in any Dennis Potter play, scratch the surface and the pain beneath is quickly revealed. With consummate skill he lays bare both the innocence and the uncaring cruelty of children. Any risk of cuteness is eliminated by a startling dramatic device - the insistence that all the parts be played by mature adults. Drawing on his own wartime childhood in the Forest of Dean, Potter makes us laugh out loud as the children bicker and brag and ape their parents - but the laughter dies in our throats as tragedy strikes. In working on this play we have done our best to evoke memories of children's lives during World War II - very different from the lives of children in 2003. However this original and inventive play is no rose-tinted retrospective. Dennis Potter presents us with an unsentimental view of the petty rivalries, the ganging-up on the weakest member of the group and the ultimate dreadful consequences of a thoughtless prank and in the end, the story leaves a bitter-sweet taste. We have found it both a pleasure and a challenge - we hope that our audiences will feel the same. JENNIFER LANE, Director

JUNE 2003 : Second from Last in the Sack Race Again

David Nobbs'


Second from Last in the Sack Race

ROYAL OAK

WEDNESDAY 25th JUNE 2003 7pm

October 2003: HOME

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April 2004 The Restaurant / What's for Pudding?

Two one-act comedies...

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