Lord Arthur Savile's Crime

It's good to see that Salterton Drama Club's 2010 schedule includes a production of Present Laughter by Noel Coward. That proves that Budleigh is more than capable of laughing off the author's mocking words about its image in his play Blithe Spirit, evoked in places like http://www.devonperspectives.co.uk/budleigh_salterton.html

Anyway that's just one of the four productions for 2010 planned by Budleigh Salterton's own group of enthusiastic thespians who operate from their little Playhouse tucked away down an alleyway off Station Road. It may look like a prefab classroom from the outside but it's got a friendly intimate and unpretentious atmosphere all of its own, and is loyally supported by audiences drawn from the town and from further afield.

The season opens with a week-long performance of Lord Arthur Savile's Crime, running from Monday 1 - Saturday 6 March 2010. This is as the website says, "a witty comedy by Constance Cox, based on the short story by Oscar Wilde, and set in the Edwardian period."

A synopsis: "After Lord Arthur has had his palm read by a well-respected chiromantist, Mr Podgers, who tells him he is destined to commit a murder, he feels duty bound to get it over with before his forthcoming marriage to the lovely Sybil Merton. However, despite being aided by the notorious anarchist Herr Winkelkopf, his attempts at homicide prove entirely futile. It later emerges that Podgers is a charlatan, and so Arthur is released from the need to commit the crime. However, on his way to the wedding rehearsal he finds that the carriage contains Winkelkopf's newest bomb."

The director is Fay Hamilton.











































The Cast:

Baines, the butler - David Wilkes
Lord Arthur Savile - Sam Pike
Sybil Merton, his fiancée - Charlotte Gould-Smith
The Dean of Paddington, his uncle - Alan Frost
Lady Windermere, his aunt - Jenny Roberts
Lady Clementine, his great aunt - Pam Terry
Lady Julia Merton, Sybil's mother - Pat Cowey
Mr Podgers, a chiromantist - David Holt
Nellie, the maid - Dianne Nicholls
Herr Winkelkopf, an anarchist - Richard Gomm

All performances start at 7.30 pm.
Tickets for all performances are priced at £7.00 each.

Tickets available from:
Budleigh Salterton Tourist Information Centre
Fore Street, Budleigh Salterton EX9 6NG
Office open: Monday to Saturday 10.00 to 16.30hrs
Tel: 01395 445275

The other 2010 productions are as follows:

Monday 7 - Saturday 12 June
'Present Laughter' by Noel Coward
Directed by Richard Gomm

Monday 6 - Saturday 11 September
'Outside Edge' by Richard Harris
Directed by Lynn Leger

Monday 22 - Saturday 27 November
'Absurd Person Singular' by Alan Ayckbourn
Directed by Wendy Gomm

Cast photos from http://www.saltertondrama.co.uk/ where there is more information about the Salterton Drama Club.
Photo of Oscar Wilde by Napoleon Sarony from http://commons.wikimedia.org/

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