RETROSPECTIVE

A week of plays about theatre, actors & writers by Mark Burgess

24th-28th October

LARRY / CASTING SHADOWS

Tuesday 24th & Wednesday 25th 7.30 pm

LARRY

Keith Drinkel stars as Sir Laurence Olivier in this solo show that has been performed extensively in London, the UK & France. In a New York hotel room, Olivier prepares for his first day of filming on ‘Marathon Man’.

‘Director Daniel Finlay keeps the two-act play zipping along with a good mix of actorish humour & glimpses into a life well lived’. (The Stage)

CASTING SHADOWS

A rehearsed reading of the BBC Radio 4 play adapted by its author from his original full-length stage play. It’s 1962 & Max Miller & Terence Rattigan have been invited by Laurence Olivier to spend a summer’s afternoon in his Brighton beach hut. With Keith Drinkel as Olivier, Julien Ball as Rattigan & Trevor Littledale as Miller.

‘A barometer of mid-twentieth century British theatre’. (Time Out)

‘My father would have loved this play’. (Tamsin Olivier)

Larry / Casting Shadows

Tue 24 Oct 2023, 7:30PM
Wed 25 Oct 2023, 7:30PM

Tickets: £15.00 / £10.00

JOAN & the BARON / SAM O’BEDLAM

Thursday 26th & Friday 27th 7.30 pm

JOAN & the BARON

Rehearsed reading of the BBC Radio 4 play based on the remarkable friendship between influential theatre director Joan Littlewood & Baron Philippe de Rothschild.

‘Pick of the Day’. (Sunday Times Culture Magazine & The Observer)

‘Charming play’. (Mail on Sunday)

SAM O’BEDLAM

Rehearsed reading of the BBC Radio 4 play & the story behind the writing of Samuel Beckett’s classic play ‘Waiting for Godot’.

‘A superb introduction to the man, Samuel Beckett, & his most famous work’. (Radio Times)

Joan & The Baron and Sam O’Bedlam

Thu 26 Oct 2023, 7:30PM
Fri 27 Oct 2023, 7:30PM

Tickets: £15.00 / £10.00

SOLDIER / SAILOR

Saturday 28th 2.30 pm & 7.30 pm

One act play based on a real event which sees Sir Alec Guinness dining at a London restaurant with former MI6 Chief Sir Maurice Oldfield. The two men had been introduced by John Le Carré in order to assist Guinness with his portrayal of George Smiley in the BBC’s ‘Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy’. With Trevor Littledale as Guinness & Derek Howard as Oldfield.

‘Come spy on the spies’.

Soldier / Sailor

Sat 28 Oct 2023, 2:30PM
Sat 28 Oct 2023, 7:30PM

Tickets: £15.00 / £10.00

CAST:

CASTING SHADOWS

MAX MILLER/ Trevor Littledale
VERA/ Jean Trend
TERENCE RATTIGAN / Julien Ball
LAURENCE OLIVIER/ Keith Drinkel

Directed by Derek Parry
……………

LARRY

LAURENCE OLIVIER/ Keith Drinkel
AMY (Voice-Over)/ Janice Cramer

Directed by Daniel Finlay
……………

SAM O’BEDLAM

SAMUEL BECKETT/ Mark Burgess
GEOFFREY THOMPSON/ Daniel Finlay
YOUNGER BECKETT/ Charlie Hesketh
YOUNGER THOMPSON/ Michael Knighton
MICHAEL/ Michael Bucke
URSULA/ Ela Chapman

Directed by Derek Parry
…………….

JOAN & the BARON

BARON PHILIPPE DE ROTHSCHILD/ Julien Ball
JOAN LITTLEWOOD/ Jane Arden
MARCEL/MURRAY MELVIN/COLIN/GEORGE/ Michael Bucke
HARRY H CORBETT/RADA PRINCIPAL/MALE PICKER/VICTOR SPINETTI/ Charlie Hesketh
AVIS BUNNAGE/SHELAGH DELANEY/FEMALE PICKER/MYVANWY/ Ela Chapman

Directed by Derek Parry
……………