Autumn

Confusions

By Alan Ayckbourn

November 2015

Mother Figure depicts the encounter between the couple next door and a woman isolated at home caring for her children. Her ever-absent husband, Harry, then appears in a hotel bar as the sad drunk in Drinking Companion, attempting to pursue two younger female acquaintances. The waiter from the bar is next seen in the restaurant of Between Mouthfuls, serving a pair of separately warring couples whose furious exchanges we only hear when the waiter is within earshot. One of the diners, Mrs Pearce, returns in Gosforth's Fete to fall foul of the chaos that ensues as the fete and their lives unravel. Finally, Gosforth's ex-wife Doreen, is one of the five isolated souls sharing only a bench in Talk In The Park. Their attempts to get each other’s attention lead to a confused babble and the final “might as well talk to yourself”. Tonight, we are following the order Ayckbourn repeatedly insisted on, both to preserve the interlinking and the reflective ending of Talk In The Park.

This production sees four younger members turn their hands to directing for the first time.

CAST

Mother Figure

Scene: A suburban sitting room

Lucy (the mother): Denise Cooke

Rosemary (neighbour): Emma Firman

Terry (Rosemary’s husband): Felix Page

Harry (Lucy’s husband): John Hunt

Directed by Beth Prescott

Drinking Companions

Scene: A three star hotel bar

Harry: John Hunt

Paula: Beth Prescott

Waiter: Anthony Nowlan

Bernice: Caroline Rees

Directed by Phoebe Hunt and Josephine Tanner

Between Mouthfuls

Scene: A hotel dining room

Waiter: Anthony Nowlan

Donald Pierce: Rich Newman

Emma Pierce: Sue Weston

Martin Chalmers: Andrew Prescott

Polly Chalmers: Sarah Webb

Directed by Zina Fallon and Lauren Hale

Gosforth’s Fete

Scene: A tea tent at a village fete

Mrs Pierce: Sue Weston

Milly: Caroline Rees

Gosforth: Tim Webb

Vicar:Felix Page

Stewart: Rich Newman

Directed by Aurea Hart

A Talk In The Park

Scene: A park

Arthur: Felix Page

Beryl: Tabitha Walton

Charles: Tim Webb

Doreen: Aurea Hart

Ernest: Rich Newman

Directed by Emma Firman and Beth Prescott

Production

Producer: Kirsty Prescott

Stage Manager: David Colbourne

Costume & Wardrobe: Sian Rogers and Anne Colbourne with assistance from members

Prompt: Olive Mangham

Props: Gill Vardon and members

Lighting: Gareth Rees

Sound, Stage Crew & Scenery: Ian Jones, Eleanor Rees, and members

Front of House: Kirsty Prescott

Refreshments: Cath Ould and team

Poster & Artwork: Andrew Prescott

Programme & Tickets: Anthony Nowlan

Our Town

By Thornton Wilder

November 2014

Act I: Daily Life

The Stage Manager introduces the audience to the small town of Grover's Corners, New Hampshire, and the people living there as a morning begins in the year 1901. Professor Willard speaks to the audience about the history of the town. Joe Crowell delivers the paper to Doc Gibbs, Howie Newsome delivers the milk, and the Webb and Gibbs households send their children (Emily and George, respectively) off to school on this beautifully simple morning.

Act II: Love and Marriage

Three years have passed, and George and Emily prepare to wed. The day is filled with stress. Howie Newsome is delivering milk in the pouring rain while Si Crowell, younger brother of Joe, laments how George's baseball talents will be squandered. George pays an awkward visit to his soon-to-be in-laws. Here, the Stage Manager interrupts the scene and takes the audience back a year, to the end of Emily and George's junior year. Emily confronts George about his pride, and over an ice cream soda, they discuss the future and their love for each other. George resolves not to go to college, as he had planned, but to work and eventually take over his uncle's farm. In the present, George and Emily say that they are not ready to marry—George to his mother, Emily to her father—but they both calm down and happily go through with the wedding.

Act III: Death and Dying

Nine years have passed. The Stage Manager opens the act with a lengthy monologue emphasizing eternity, bringing the audience's attention to the cemetery outside of town and the characters who have died since the wedding, including Mrs. Gibbs (pneumonia, while traveling), Wally Webb (burst appendix, while camping), Mrs. Soames, and Simon Stimson (suicide by hanging). Town undertaker Joe Stoddard is introduced, as is a young man named Sam Craig who has returned to Grover's Corners for his cousin's funeral. That cousin is Emily, who died giving birth to her and George's second child. Once the funeral ends, Emily emerges to join the dead; Mrs. Gibbs urges her to forget her life, but she refuses. Ignoring the warnings of Simon, Mrs. Soames, and Mrs. Gibbs, Emily returns to Earth to relive one day, her 12th birthday. The memory proves too painful for her, and she realizes that every moment of life should be treasured. When she asks the Stage Manager if anyone truly understands the value of life while they live it, he responds, "No. The saints and poets, maybe—they do some." Emily returns to her grave next to Mrs. Gibbs and watches impassively as George kneels weeping over her. The Stage Manager concludes the play and wishes the audience a good night.