Ritual for Dolls (1984)
Directed by John Woodrooffe
Performances: 17th & Sun 18th November 1984, Prompt Corner
Contents
Introduction
The first half of a double bill with Transit of Venus (1984)
With their childhood owners now grown up, the log discarded toys live in the attic with only each other for company. As midnight sounds they rise from their daytime sleep to re-enact stories from the lives of their owners in the nightly "Ritual for Dolls".
Cast
- Jo-Jo (Monkey Doll) - Sally Lill
- Arabella - Juliet Male
- Bravo - Quinton Cobby
- Golly - Jonathan Lewis
Crew
- Stage Manager - Iris Lenny
- Lighting Design & Operator - Richard Wood
- Sound Operator - Ray Ellison
- Wardrobe & Costumes - Elaine Valleau
- Set Construction - Nigel Howcutt, Ken Lucas, John Woodrooffe
Reviews
"Ritual for Dolls" packs a tremendous punch. Four Dolls come out of their box at midnight to enact a tale of passion and retribution in colonial Africa under Queen Victoria. The tragedy was compellingly directed by John Woodroofe.
Sally Lill was the monkey doll Jo-Jo and her drum was the very heartbeat of the story. Julliet Male was superb as Arabella, emerging from her box with icy mien and racist gibes, before playing out the passionate tale of Alice.
The doll Bravo was played by Quentin Cobby, stiff and stilted and telling her brother Percival's tale in a mounting crescendo of mounting terror. Jonathan Lewis was Golly, a doll parody of the primitive African, with drawling accent and hypnotic delivery. This was a riveting half-hour.
Donald Madgwick, the Croydon Advertiser - reprinted in SCENE with permission.
Gallery
Reminiscences and Anecdotes
Members are encouraged to write about their experiences of working on or seeing this production. Please leave your name. Anonymous entries may be deleted.
See Also
Have there been other SLT productions of this play? Link to them here.
Or add anything that is related within this site. The author's page for instance or other plays with a similar theme.
References
<references/>
