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Belfrey Theatre, Shropshire
Part of 'An Evening of Comedy and Drama'
October 2011
"The Crimson Cocoanut"
by Ian Hay
Wellington Theatre Company
An Absurdity in One Act
"The Crimson Cocoanut," first published in 1913, is set in a Soho café. The farce includes Russian spies, a policeman from Scotland Yard's CID, two love affairs, a bemused waiter and a device set to explode at any second.
Major General John Hay Beith (1876 –1952) was a teacher and soldier, and, under the pen name Ian Hay, a novelist and playwright. He was born in Lancashire, educated at Cambridge, and later fought in World War One in France and was awarded the Military Cross.
Cast (Click links for photos)
| Jack Pincher (a detective) | Dominic Silk |
| Robert (the waiter) | Andy Reed |
| Mr Jabstick | Tim Crowson |
| Nancy Jabstick | Fliss Gee |
| Glisserinski | John Binns |
| Mde. Glisserinski | Beryl Edwards |
| Director | Brian Hughes |
... and the rest of 'An Evening of Comedy and Drama'
"After Magritte"
by Tom Stoppard
Wellington Theatre Company
"After Magritte" is theatre of surprise, of flamboyant surreal gestures, where legitimate reasoning is often used to bolster absurd argument. It holds together with abounding and intricately concocted idiocies, whose central image is a one-legged footballer hopping through the rain with a tortoise under his arm.
Tom Stoppard was born in Czechoslovakia in 1937. His plays include Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, The Real Inspector Hound, After Magritte, Dogg's Hamlet and Cahoot's Macbeth, and The Invention of Love. In addition to his work for the stage, Stoppard has written a number of screenplays including The Human Factor, Empire of the Sun and Billy Bathgate. In 1999, he won an Oscar for "Best Screenplay" for Shakespeare in Love, which he co-authored.
Cast (Click links for photos)
| Thelma | Sara Newall-Lecrivain |
| Harris | Rich Harris |
| Mother | Marianne Foster |
| Foot | Simon Phillips |
| Holmes | Matt Richardson |
| Director | Claire Hall |
"Zoo"
by Terry Adlam
Little Eyeses
"Zoo" is a multi role farce based upon a day's events at the unfortunate Southmoor Wildlife and Zoological Park, where Richard, the manager, strives, with increasing desperation, to keep the public happy and safe. But he hadn't counted on the intervention of Raj the Tiger and a 6 foot penguin...
Terry Adlam is a comedy scriptwriter who started out as a special effects technician, working on such films as "Raiders of the Lost Ark" and "Return of the Jedi". He later moved from film to television. Since then he has written over 2,000 sketches and short plays, including material for Spitting Image, The Freddie Starr Show and Hale and Pace as well as five full length plays.
Cast (Click links for photos)
| Richard | Stephen Davies |
| Wendy/Zoe | Lynne James |
| Claire/Chimp | Margaret Stanworth |
| Peter/Vistor | Tim Crowson |
| Facker/Gate | Simon Phillips |
| Director | Brian Hughes |
