When We are Married (1997)
Directed & Designed by Alan Buckman
Performances: Tue 9th – Sat 13th December 1997, Bell Theatre
Contents
Introduction
The action takes place in the sitting room of Alderman Helliwell's house in Clecklewyke, a town in the West Riding of Yorkshire, on an evening in 1908.
- On September 5th 1893, at the Lane End Chapel in the Yorkshire town of Clecklewyke, three hopeful young couples were married. Twenty five years later, having remained friends all this time, they meet to celebrate their silver wedding anniversary. The intervening quarter of a century has been good to them and they have become solid, respectable and civically responsible people (in other words, stuffy, pompous and self-opinionated). So what is their reaction going to be when they discover that because of a fault at their mutual wedding ceremony, they are not married at all?
THEY HAVE BEEN LIVING IN SIN FOR 25 YEARS!
The attempts of the six hapless worthies to keep the situation quiet and to sort things out are thwarted at every turn by their belligerent - and slightly tipsy - housekeeper, and befuddled - and slightly tipsy - local photographer, a brassy barmaid and a secret from the past, and their feckless young maid.
The bulk of the comedy, however, comes from the way the new situation changes the characters of the six unmarrieds - pomposity is exploded, worms turn and dragons become mice. Certainly their relationships will never be the same again. It is Priestly's wonderful way with words, creating deliciously comic dialogue, that has made this one of the greatest comedies of the century.
Alan Buckman Director.
Cast
- Ruby Birtle - Julie Broughton
- Gerald Forbes - James Newall
- Mrs Northrop - Su Hands
- Nancy Holmes - Jane Quinn
- Fred Dyson - Steve Ellis
- Henry Ormonroyd - John Lyne
- Joseph Helliwell - Des Muller
- Maria Helliwell - Anne-Marie Carlile
- Albert Parker - Andy Catto
- Annie Parker - Pam Jarvis
- Herbert Soppitt - Tom Sampson
- Clara Soppitt - Fiona Daffern
- Lottie Grady - Ruth Shettle
- Rev. Clement Mercer - Peter Medd
Crew
- Stage Manager - Jill Davies
- Lighting & Sound - Keefe Browning
- Set Construction - John Hartnett, Anton Krause, Alan Buckman
- ASM/Prompt - Michelle Cherrie
- Ladies Costumes - Buck House
- Camera Equipment - Val Williams
Reviews
Some review quotes go here
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.
Alan Buckman's set - an Edwardian middle-class drawing room - was so beautifully decorated that it was given a round of applause for itself as soon as I opened the tabs.
Jill Davies, SM
See Also
References
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