29th and 30th April, 2nd and 3rd May 2003
From the Newbury Weekly News.
| Three times the fun
Compton Players Entertainment Triple Bill: Bill and Bob, Green Favours and Pyramus and Thisbe, at the Coronation Hall, Compton, on Tuesday April 29, Wednesday, April 30, Friday, May 2 and Saturday, May3 Compton Players chose three very diverse one act plays for their Spring production. The first, Bill and Bob, written and directed by H. Connolly, a member of the Players, was a study of two couples' relationships. Well written, funny and dramatic, it explored complex themes within the couples lives. Art reflects life they say, and sometimes the dialogue was explicit, but the actors equipped themselves well and were well rehearsed. Bob (Mike Long), Bill (Dave Hawkins), Maureen (Mary Warrington), Jane (Tracey Pearce) and H. Connolly are to be congratulated on an engaging and effective piece of original theatre. The second act brought us Green Favours by Frank Vickery, a two-hander, with Mark Bailey and Brenda Prior as Tom and Valerie, brought together in the unlikely setting of an allotment garden shed. Tom has persuaded the gardening club to accept Valerie as its first female member. Tom has left his wife, however, and has more than gardening on his mind. In the charged atmosphere of a thunderstorm, complete with a rain lashed window, the characters work through their mutual attraction to a 'what-the-hell' final clinch. With a super set and effects, the actors portrayed their roles well under the direction of Tracey Pearce. In total contrast, the final play was Pyramus and Thisbe, an extract from A Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare. It was a delightful costumed piece, directed by Eric Saxton, in which The Court were entertained by the players in a highly humorous version of Pyramus and Thisbe. The Court was Ian Hickling and Enid Farr as a commanding Theseus and Hippolyta and Paul Shave as a Philostrate. The players were Eric Saxton as the rustic Prologue, Nick Roberts as the hammy Pyramus, Jasmine Gartshore as Thisbe. Faye McGeehin as Wall, Peter Whitworth as Moonshine and Michael Sheperia as Lion. The evening lived up to the title of an Entertainment Triple Bill, and all three plays were well received by the Compton audience. TREVOR DOBSON |
Compton Players won the Punters' Prize for Bill and Bob at the Wallingford Drama Festival, and the Class I (Adult Mixed) award - the Adda Cook Shield - at the Shinfield Drama Festival. Well done, H, the cast and crew! And special congratulations to Tracey who won the Best Actress award - the Maire Hood Award - at Shinfield. This was in the Newbury Weekly News.
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Downland-based amateur drama group Compton Players scored a double success at the Shinfield Drama Festival this week, winning two awards at Saturday night's adjudication. Their production of Bill and Bob - written and directed by local playwright 'H' Connolly - took the Adda Cook Shield for best adult drama, while Tracey Pearce was presented with The Marie Hood Award for best actress. This was the first time Compton Players had entered the festival, which took place at the Shinfield Players Theatre, near Reading. A total of eight plays were entered for the competition, which was judged by American stage and screen actor Ron Travis, a member of the guild of drama adjudicators. Bill and Bob, which played earlier this year at Coronation Hall, Compton, shows the relationship between two friends, fork-lift truck drivers working for a major printing company, and contrasts it with their vastly disparate home lives. The play also won the audience award or Punters' Prize at Wallingford Drama festival in June this year. Tracey and 'H' were presented with the trophies in front of a packed audience on Saturday night. Tracey - who is also chairman of Compton Players - was shocked and delighted to receive her cup, while 'H's' eight-year-old daughter Charlie, accepted the trophy on behalf of the company. |