Tons of Money – November 8th – 10th 2018

Tons of Money

By Will Evans and Valentine

Adapted by Alan Ayckbourn

Tons of Money tells the story of a hard-up inventor who inherits the life interest in a fortune which is to revert on his death to his cousin. As he thinks his cousin has already died abroad, he has the brilliant idea of “dying” too so that he can resurrect himself as this cousin. There are, however, complications as this play will unfold.

The original Tons of Money was written by Will Evans and Arthur Valentine and was first performed in April 1922 at the Shaftesbury Theatre. Starring Leslie Henson as Aubrey and Yvonne Arnaud as Louise it ran for nearly two years.

It was also adapted for film in 1924, first as a silent movie and again, as a talkie in 1930. There was also a television adaptation shown by the BBC on Boxing Day 1954 and starring Frankie Howard.

Although Alan Ayckbourn is famously associated with the Stephen Joseph Theatre in Scarborough, in 1984, Peter Hall, the Artistic Director of the National Theatre asked him to consider working at the National. He took some convincing but in 1986 he agreed to a two-year stint as Company Director. It was during this time that he adapted and directed Tons of Money. The successful run at the National starred Simon Cadell as Aubrey and Michael Gambon as Sprules.

Cast in Order of Appearance

Sprules, a butler                                                     Gordon Charleston

Simpson, a parlourmaid                                      Diane Masters

Miss Benita Mullett                                               Val Summers

Louise Allington                                                      Jo Smith

Aubrey Henry Maitland Allington                      Paul Airey

Giles, a gardener                                                    Phil Orange

James Chesterman, a solicitor                            David Ryland

Jean Everard                                                            Beckie Owen

Henery                                                                      David Riley

George Maitland                                                    Dominic Dickinson

 

The action takes place in the library of Aubrey Henry Maitland’s
house at Marlow

Time – 1930s

Act I                            Morning

Act II                          Three weeks later. Afternoon

Act III                        The next day. Late afternoon

 

Photos awaited

 

Arsenic and Old Lace – November 9th – 11th 2017

Arsenic and Old Lace

By Joseph Kesselring

The Brewster family can trace their origins back to the Mayflower. The family includes Abbey and Martha, two spinster sisters who have taken to murdering lonely old men, Teddy (Theodore), who believes he is the president of the same name and Jonathan, who has recently received plastic surgery from an alcoholic accomplice Dr Einstein.

Our hero, Mortimer Brewster, is a drama critic who must deal with his crazy, homicidal family and the local police as he debates whether to go through with his recent promise to marry the woman he loves.

Set in Brooklyn, New York in the 1940’s, we hope you enjoy the exploits of this weird but extremely funny family!

This play, written by Joseph Kesselring, was first performed on Broadway in 1941 where it stayed for three years and almost 1500 performances. (Boris Karloff played the role of Jonathan in the first stage version).  In 1944 Warner Brothers made the film version directed by Frank Capra and starring Cary Grant as Mortimer Brewster.

Cast in Order of Appearance

Abby Brewster                                                        Judy Abbot

The Rev. Dr. Harper                                              Derek Chaplin

Teddy Brewster                                                      Maurice Buckley

Officer Klein                                                             Gordon Charleston

Martha Brewster                                                    Val Summers

Elaine Harper                                                          Jo Smith

Mortimer Brewster                                              Paul Airey

Mr. Gibbs                                                                  Alan Piddington

Jonathan Brewster                                                John Maslen

Dr. Einstein                                                               David Riley

Officer O’Hara                                                        James Donohue

Lieutenant Rooney                                                Phil Orange

Mr Witherspoon                                                    David Ryland

The action takes place in the living-room of the Brewster home in Brooklyn,

New York  in the 1940’s.

 

Act I                            An afternoon in September

Act II                          The same night

Act III Scene I          Later that night

Act III Scene II         Early the next morning

 

The Ladykillers – November 10th – 12th 2016

The Ladykillers

By Graham Lineham

From the motion picture screenplay by William Rose

By special arrangement with StudioCanal & Fiery Angel Ltd, London

Cast in Order of Appearance

Constable Macdonald – Paul Song

Mrs Louise Wilberforce – Val Summers

General Gordon – Phil Orange

Professor Marcus  – John Maslen

Major Courtney – Gordon Charleston

Harry Robinson – James Donohue

One-Round – David Riley

Louis Harvey – Malcolm Dennett

Mrs Jane Tromleyton – Maureen King

Mrs Wilberforce’s Guests  – Chris Elliott, Sara Riley,

Diane Masters, Tamsin

Smith & Meg Jefferies

The action takes place in King’s Cross, London, from 5^th to 9^th November 1956.

There will be an interval of 20 minutes between Act 1 and Act 2