RETFORD LITTLE THEATRE
Website
2008-2009 Season
THE SHELL SEEKERS
Adapted by Terence Brady and Charlotte Bingham from the novel by Rosamunde Pilcher
3rd - 11th October 2008, 7.30 pm
Penelope Keeling looks back on a full and varied life - a Bohemian childhood in London and Cornwall, an unhappy wartime marriage, and the one man she truly loved. She discovers that her most treasured possession, her father's painting The Shell Seekers, is now worth a small fortune. She has learned to accept each of her three children for what they are, but decisions surrounding the painting will determine whether her family can continue to survive or be split apart.
Produced by Mary Lenanton
BRONTË
By Polly Teale
21st - 29th November 2008, 7.30pm
Isolated on the Yorkshire Moors, how could three Victorian spinsters have written some of the most powerful and passionate fiction of all time? It is 1845. Branwell returns home in disgrace and descends into alcoholism and insanity, bringing chaos to the household. Meanwhile, his sisters write some of the most dramatic novels in the whole of English literature. This extraordinary play (first performed in 2005) evokes the real and imagined worlds of the Brontës, as the fictional characters come to haunt their creators.
Produced by Shirley Thomas
IMPROBABLE FICTION
By Alan Ayckbourn
23rd - 31st January 2009, 7.30pm
The six aspiring amateur authors of the local Writers' Circle gather at the house of their chairman for their monthly meeting. They are all improbable writers of different types of fiction, and each of them is in a rut: some can't get started with their writing; others find it hard to stop. Chairman Arnold suggests a target for the next meeting, but as soon as he clears up after the meeting a clap of thunder heralds extraordinary happenings. An inventive and imaginative play full of classic Ayckbourn comedy.
Produced by Judith Walker
THE DRESSER
By Roger Harwood
20th - 28th March 2009, 7.30pm
In this modern theatrical classic, Sir, the last of a dying breed of English actor-managers, is in a bad way. As his dresser tries to prepare him to go on stage as King Lear, Sir is having great difficulty remembering who and where he is, let alone Lear's lines. With a Herculean effort, dresser Norman does finally get Sir on stage and through the performance to a final curtain. A great West End hit, this play is based on Harwood's own experience of being dresser to Sir Donald Wolfit.
Produced by Simon Cox
DEAD GUILTY
By Richard Harris
8th - 16th May 2009, 7.30pm
When John Haddrell dies of a heart attack at the wheel of his car, the woman by his side is not his wife Margaret, but his lover Julia. Recovering from the injuries she sustained in the ensuing crash, Julia is visited by Margaret, who apparently knows nothing of the affair. Events take a sinister turn when Margaret begins to encroach on Julia's life. Left alone in the house together, a deadly combat follows in this nail-biting thriller with a difference.
Produced by Lesley Warburton
EXTRA TO THE SEASON:
HEROES
Translated by Tom Stoppard
30th October - 1st November 2008, 7.30pm
A whimsical celebration of veterans to commemorate the 90th Anniversary of the First World War.
Produced by David Cox
