11th, 12th& 13thNovember 2010 at8pm
Romanoff & Juliet
Written byPeter Ustinov
Directed byRosemary Caswell
Picture the scene, a starry night in a tiny but strategically vital middle European Country. Boy meets girl, they fall in love. Both sets of parents oppose the marriage, does this sound familiar?
Now add the genius of Mr. Ustinov and the complications and comedy cascade into the cooking pot. Girl already has a fiance. Boy's parents are, unbeknownst to him, finalising an arranged marriage for him with a ships captain. Our lovers chances of 'happy ever after' look remote and when the President himself decides to take a hand anything is possible. Then we learn that Miss Juliette's father is the American Ambassador and Mr Romanoff senior is the Russian Ambassador, both are pushing for trade sanctions, and the Cold War is in full swing.
Peter Ustinov's take on the Will Shakespear's Romeo and Juliet theme is hilarious but never predictable, and as full of twists as a corkscrew.
ROMANOFF AND JULIET
by Peter Ustinov
This amateur production is presented by arrangement with Josef Weinberger Limited
3rd, 4th& 5thFebruary 2011 at8pm
Toad of Toad Hall
Written byA. A. Milne
Directed byBett Hewlett & Claire Quley
Harlow Star, 10thFebruary 2011 Toad conjures up magical memories of a golden age Perhaps there never really was a golden age of the English countryside, but Moot House Players' production onToad of Toad Hallcertainly convinced us that such a time existed. From the opening scene when a little girl, Marigold, explains to her nanny that the lives of animals might be as real to them as our own human lives are to us, we are in an idyllic world of imagination and nostalgia. Enchanting young Bethany Hewlett plaed Marigold with clear-voiced confidence, capturing perfectly the charm and innocence of the play and introducing us to the animal heroes. The play written by Winnie the Pooh creator A.A. Milne, is based onThe Wind in the Willowsby Kenneth Grahaeme and focuses on the misadventures of the boastful but lovable egotist, Mr Toad. Toad's friends - Mr Mole, Mr Rat and Mr Badger - despair as he moves from one craze to the another. As a wealthy animal he is able to indulge each new passion, from boating on the river to becoming the proud owned of a horse-drawn caravan. But his downfall occurs when he becomes infatuated with the motor car and progresses from reckless driving and car crashes to court and finally to prison. Dan Powell was a terrific Toad, full of energy, enthusiasm and bluff bonhomie. It was easy to see why, in spite of his selfishness, his friends continued to help him. Kindly Mole, played by Robbie Chittick and his newfound friend the river-loving Rat, played by Tony Edwards, team up with Jon McNamara's wise old Badger, to try to make Toad see the error of his ways. When that fails and the wicked wild wooders - stoats, weasels and ferrets who live in the dark and dangerous wood - take over Toad Hall, the friends bravely take up arms to drive them out. Moot House Players first performedToad of Toad Hallin 1967. I can remember watching it then (aged 13, since you ask) and enjoyed it just as much this time round with the Moot House Players at their very best. The play has a large cast and many actors played various roles. It seems unfair to single any out, but i must mention the younger members who delighted the audience with their singing, dancing and acting. Pollyanna Johnson has a paticularly expressive face. The sweet sadness of the jazz and the ragtime music which accompanied the play enhanced the elegiac quality of the production. It's hard not to think that, like Mr Toad, we have all allowed our addiction to motor cars to destory something precious in our lives. Jane Gyamfi-Sarkodie |
24th, 25th& 26thMarch 2011 at8pm
Murder In Company
Written byPhillip King & John Boland
Directed byJon McNamara
12th, 13th& 14thMay 2011 at8pm
Whose Life is it Anyway?
Written byBrian Clark
Directed byTony Edwards
Brian Clark's play Whose Life is it Anyway, sensitively explores the complex issue of voluntary euthanasia. Originally written in 1972 as a television play, it has since had a number of metamorphoses, most notably as a stage play (1978) with Tom Conti in the lead role, a film (1981) starring Richard Dreyfuss; and versions in 1980 and 2004 where the main character is played by a woman Mary Tyler Moore and Kim Catrill respectively. The play has achieved enormous critical acclaim including Tony Awards for Best Actor (Tom Conti and Mary Tyler Moore) and the 1978 Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Play.
Gordon Hewlett directed Moot House Players first production of the play in 1982 with Tony Edwards in the lead role. In this production and with the authors express we are doing the female version of the play. Claire Quley is playing the lead and the play is directed by Tony Edwards. The play has a strong supporting cast including Dan Powell, Roz Barron, Michael Rees, Karen Clark and Jennifer Southwell. Brian Clark writes of this latest version "Having a woman in the bed makes the play more universal - for me anyway".
We urge you to see this play as, given the recent challenges to the law, the issues it addresses are even more relevant today than when Whose Life is it Any Way was originally written in 1972.
Players shine in a life or death dilemma Even more relevent now than when it was first performed, Mooth House Players' latest production had audience members debating furiously during the interval. Whose Life Is It Anyway? asks tough questions and no easy answers. Who should decide if a life is worth living - the medical experts who are commited to preserving life at all cost, or the paralysed patient who looks to the future with dread? Is a wish to die a symptom of insanity as Dr Emerson believes, or a rational choise as Claire Harrison maintains? And what about the finances? She is, after all, occupying a costly critical care bed. An accident has left Claire paralysed from the neck down. Claire Quley captured the bitterness of an intelligent, witty woman who is determined to hold on to her anger, the only thing in her life she can control. Brian Clark, who was for a number of years a member of Moot House Players, wrote the play for television in 1972. Since then it has been an award-winning stage play and a successful film. MHP are the first amateur drama group to present this updated version of the work, and they made the most of the opportunity with a production that crackled with tension. The moral dilemmas of the play are all the more real because the characters are rounded and believable. Ros Barron's Sister Anderson is efficient and dutiful, but understanding and affection lie beneath her uniform. Dr Emerson, played by Michael Rees, cracks bad-taste jokes with his patient and respects her intellect even when he opposes her wishes. As well as some black hospital humour there is also a hint of hospital romance provided by the orderly, John (Matthew Truman), and trainee nurse Kay (Kerry Rowland). Can life be a fate worse than death? In her summing up the judge, played by Jenny Southwell, quotes recent real-life cases before giving her decision. Judging by the conversations overheard during the interval, these cases evoke stong feelings. When Claire asks for "the same compassion that would put an injured animal out of its misery", it's impossible not to be moved. This is a compassinoate play. The characters. although flawed, struggle to do the right thing. No easy answers indeed, but some fine performances and an outstanding script made this a memorable production. Jane Gyamfi-Sarkodie |
7th, 8th& 9thJuly 2011 at8pm
The Booty
(El Butin)
Written ByHamida Ait El Hadj & Farid Bennour
Translated & Adapted ByMichal Branwell
Directed ByMichael Branwell
| Punchy, provocative and powerful Thirteen years after it was banned by the Algerian authorities, Hamida Ait El Hadj and Farid Bennour’s haunting parable of Middle Eastern oppression remains as pertinent as ever. Swap the play’s bloody backdrop of the Algerian Civil War with the civil unrest currently sweeping through the Arab West and the play could have been written yesterday, such is its unnerving prophetic power. As an emotive and eloquent exploration of the devastating and degrading effects of torture, terrorism and oppression - both physical and psychological – and the objectification and subjugation of women, The Booty certainly makes for uncomfortable viewing, and it was testament to the skill of both director Michael Branwell and a solid cast and crew that this punchy production remained accessible and entertaining throughout. The ever-impressive Claire Quley excelled in the central role of elective mute Ghanima, a young woman who has been all but silenced by the horrific sexual abuse she has been forced to endure at the hands of the militia. Communicating exclusively with the audience through a series of otherworldly, candlelit monologues, Quley brought a palpable sense of wide-eyed terror to a challenging part and was entirely believable as the broken, emotionally-crippled "booty" of the piece. Her principal tormentor, slimy minister for family affairs Eddine Al-Khaddi, was played with leering menace by Geoff Leeds, the MHP chairman bringing a schizophrenic explosiveness to his character’s skewed sense of legislated morality, none more so than in the electrifying exchanges with Ghanima in the final act. Elsewhere, a brilliantly brusque Rosalind Barron was pitch-perfect as determined TV reporter Frances Ludlow, Monica Albinson brought real warmth to the part of Ghanima’s mother, world-weary widow Khedouma, and Bridget McAlpine provided flashes of humour in the unrelenting darkness as resolute, enlightened family friend Sonia. Provocative, harrowing and demanding of both cast and audience, The Booty is an emotionally-draining drama rooted in an unsettling reality – Moot House Players deserve great credit for daring to tackle such an important and serious piece of theatre. Chris Moss |