In Production

ENJOY

Our next production will be Enjoy by Alan Bennett which we will be presenting from the 17th to the 20th November. Written with Bennett's characteristic razor-sharp wit and biting sarcasm, Enjoy is the story of a working class family living in one of the last back-to-backs in Leeds. Mam is house-pround while Dad sits in a chair complaining about his various ailments. Together they anticipate their impending move to a new development, complete with a waste disposal unit and non-slip vinyl fooring.

Mam has problems with her memory but knows she loved her long-lost son while Dad dotes on his daughter, an apparently high-flying P.A. who turns out to be anything but! When a female observer arrives from the council events take a decidedly abnormal turn!

Auditions were held recently and the director was spoiled for choice. Once again we had quite a few new people interested in taking part, with several of them being cast. Over the last few years we have seen nearly 20 new members appear in our productions, which is not just good for the club but also means our audieces don't keep seeing the same old faces!

Athough the cast is all sorted out we still need help backstage, so if you are interested in getting involved call 01621 892404 or email us at info@withamdramatic.co.uk.

Our Last Play

BETRAYAL

Harold Pinter's plays are often thought to be hard work, both for the cast and the audience. That certainly didn't seem to be the case for our recent production of Betrayal. In fact the small cast were actually worried that things seemed, if anything, rather too easy and were surprised at how much they laughed during rehearsals. They were even more surprised by how much the audience laughed during the performance! This was a serious play wasn't it??? Well yes, in essence, but like all Pinter's works, there is a great deal of humour hidden amongst the angst.

Left: Jerry (Sean Staines) and Emma (Lucy Parret) consider their future. Right: Robert (Nigel Northfield) begins to uncover Emma's deceit.

We didn't expect record-breaking audiences but even so were disappointed by the advance sales, with no more than about 30 booked for the Saturday night and a Friday that clashed with England playing in the World Cup Ð mind you if eveyone knew what was going to happen even the most ardent football fan might have preferred to come and see our play! However our fears were misplaced as ticket sales on the door exceeded all expectations and we ended up with very respectable houses for each night. Not only were the audiences bigger than we expected, they proved to be very responsive giving the cast some great feedback and being almost unanimously complimentary about the show.

Left: Jerry and Robert meet up for lunch. Right: Emma and Jerry in the early days of their seven year affair.

Of course all productions are a team effort and the four on stage would have found life very difficult without the support of twice as many working 'behind the scenes'. Everyone contributed to a very professional production, but perhaps we can give a special mention to the 'ladies in white' who were so slick at changing the props and furniture and looked great dressed all in white Ð something rather unusual for a stage crew so used to being in black!

Looking Ahead

LOOKING AHEAD

Details of productions for 2011 are still being finalised. As soon as our programme has been decided it wil be published here.