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LATEST NEWS: Molly Sweeney by Brian Friel
What happens when sight is restored to a woman who has been blind since infancy? Can she make sense of the world? Can she learn how to see?
This is Molly Sweeney, living contentedly in her blind world, now urged to grasp an opportunity to gain ‘the gift of sight’. Her husband thinks she should; her ophthalmologist is longing for the chance to demonstrate his skills; but she wonders what she has to gain, while they tell her she has nothing to lose. Alsager Community Theatre’s next production is Molly Sweeney by acclaimed Irish playwright Brian Friel (probably best known for his Dancing at Lughnasa). The play looks deeply into the lives of three people, examining their motivations and emotions as they talk about themselves and each other in what has been described as ‘literary chamber music of deep compassion’.
“The play is an actor’s dream”, says director Maree Thorpe. “We have three award-winning actors who have taken on the challenge and are creating compelling and wholly believable characters; Diana Lane (Elizabeth Proctor in The Crucible), Philip Jackson (Gerald Croft in An Inspector Calls), and Howard Thorpe (George in Honour and Mr Hardcastle in She Stoops to Conquer). We were all emotionally engaged with the characters right from the start. Molly Sweeney is beautifully written, lyrical and honest, with moments of hilarity and moments of tragedy, and I know the audience will be captivated by this wonderful story.” Alsager Civic Centre, from Wednesday 21 March to Saturday 24 March 2012 at 7.45pm Tickets are £8 (£7 for concessions), available from Alsager Library or by phoning (01260) 276165
CAST LIST Molly Sweeney : Diana Lane |
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November 2011: Ladies’ Day Our November production was Ladies’ Day by Amanda Whittington, and it had all the makings of a huge hit. With its Yorkshire heart and soul, audiences were in for a real treat as they enjoyed the kind of down-to-earth warmth and humour found in Calendar Girls or The Full Monty. Work, love and life are just one long, hard slog for the fish filleting foursome Pearl, Jan, Shelley and Linda. Friends together through gills, guts and guys, these likely lasses’ fortunes are set to change when Linda finds tickets to Ladies' Day at Royal Ascot in York. Out go the hairnets, overalls and wellies as the four ditch work, doll themselves up to the nines and head off for a drink, a flirt and a flutter. The sky's the limit on their posh day out. If their luck holds they could hit the jackpot, and those rich blokes and exotic holidays could be theirs for the taking! But their day at the races doesn’t quite turn out as planned as echoes from the past come back to haunt them. Special mention must be made of Louise Hampson, who stepped into the breach, taking on the role of Linda from the dress rehearsal onwards, when the actress originally cast, Rhiannon Webster, was unfortunately taken suddenly ill. Act's press officer Diana Lane told us “Our previous production was Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night at Little Moreton Hall in July, where our annual performances are widely admired and appreciated, and we’d love as many people as possible to come to Alsager Civic Centre and see how we use our members’ considerable skills and enthusiasm in our other venue and in this warm and funny play.” Ladies Day was performed for four evenings, from Wednesday 23rd November to Saturday 26th November 2011. CAST LIST Pearl: Carol Acton Jan: Kirsty Pritchard Shelley: Chris Lockett Linda: Louise Hampson Joe/Fred: Alistair Pullan Barry: Howard Thorpe Patrick: Oliver Fencott Jim: Steve Powell
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June 2011: The NSDA Play Festival 2010 / 11 The North Staffordshire Drama Society play festival culminated in the Gala Evening in June, when thirteen awards were given for all aspects of theatre production. Twelve plays were entered into the competition by six local drama groups. The three plays of our season were The Merry Wives of Windsor by William Shakespeare, Mrs Warren’s Profession by GB Shaw and The Crucible by Arthur Miller. Alsager Community Theatre enjoyed another successful year, winning six awards and being nominated for a further five. ACT was given the award for “Most adventurous approach to theatre” for our choice of plays.
Our March production at Alsager’s Civic Centre of The Crucible received awards for: Awarded: Winning Play in the festival Awarded: Best director (Mark Jeffries) Awarded: Best actor (Frank McGregor for John Proctor) Awarded: Best actress (Diana Lane for Elizabeth Proctor) Awarded: Best performance under the age of 21 (Victoria Vardy for Abigail Williams)
Our November production at Alsager’s Civic Centre of Mrs Warren’s Profession received nominations for: Best actress (Maree Thorpe for Mrs Warren) Best actor (Howard Thorpe for Sir George Crofts) Best performance under the age of 21 (Kieran Wesley for Frank Gardner)
Last summer’s Little Moreton Hall production of The Merry Wives of Windsor received nominations for: Best actress (Celia Turner for Mistress Quickly) Best comedy performance (Celia Turner for Mistress Quickly)
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June 2011: Twelfth Night and the RSC Open Stages Festival 2011-2012 Every summer award-winning local company, Alsager Community Theatre, stages a production in one of the most intimate and delightful acting areas in Cheshire, the courtyard of the National Trust property, Little Moreton Hall. This year the group will be performing one of Shakespeare’s best-loved comedies, Twelfth Night. Shipwrecked Viola fetches up on the shores of Illyria, grieving for the loss of her twin brother, Sebastian. Disguised as a boy she enters into the service of the love-sick Duke Orsino, and so the stage is set for the familiar Shakespearean themes and devices of love, romance, jealousy, disguise and mistaken identity, enriched by a sparkling cast of characters, including boastful, drunken Sir Toby Belch, pompous Malvolio and intelligent, witty Countess Olivia. Director Maree Thorpe tells us “Twelfth Night is a play which contains many traditional songs both humorous and haunting, and it also offers opportunites for newly composed pieces, so ACT is delighted to welcome once again Richard Tadman and his musicians who will be performing his original music live. In another exciting development our production has been accepted for the Royal Shakespeare Company’s Open Stage Festival: a unique collaboration between the professional and amateur theatre, supported by the Esmee Fairbairn Foundation, which will involve workshops led by RSC professionals, and the potential for performances at Manchester’s Contact Theatre and maybe even Stratford!” Twelfth Night was performed on 14, 15 and 16 July and on 21, 22 and 23 July 2011 . |
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April 2011: ACT performs The Crucible in Cobridge church In an exciting new development for Alsager Community Theatre, the award-winning group took their production of The Crucible by Arthur Miller to Christ Church, Cobridge. The two performances took place on Thursday 31 March and Friday 1 April, the first time the church had been used for a full scale theatrical production. ACT members will perform the play within the church, as their contribution to the congregation’s ambitious project; to develop the church building as a centre for healing, prayer, and a broad range of creative arts. The Crucible is both a dramatisation of the 1692 Salem witchcraft trials and Miller's response to the fanatical anti-communist crusade led by Senator Joseph McCarthy in 1950s Cold War America, and Director Mark Jeffries tells us “It is an incredibly rich play that is equally a gripping story and a bold social and political commentary. The play touches upon a dazzling web of themes and ideas, not least those of judgement, injustice, envy, fear and the power of delusion. At the play's heart is the fate of the individual caught up in a society intent upon enforcing a strict and unbending set of rules.” An enthusiastic review in The Sentinel, of the performances in Alsager Community Centre, included these comments about ACT’s production: “Sometimes amateur drama surpasses what is available on the professional stage. This is one such production. It should not be missed.” Click here for the full review. The performances at Christ Church were the first use of the Church for such a dramatic production, and a test of our idea that during the next few years the Church could become an exciting centre for a broad range of creative arts. |
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