Absurdly singular persons on stage
























"I know that tartan skirt" I thought, on seeing the Salterton Drama Club's webpage about their next production at http://www.saltertondrama.co.uk/current.htm And sure enough, the name of Jenny Roberts on the cast list of Alan Ayckbourn's play Absurd Person Singular was familiar, as was that of her co-star Simon Blissett.

Not long after moving to the area I'd met this pair of what I imagined to be typical Budleigh Salterton eccentrics ready to make fools of themselves by raising money for charity on Comic Relief Day as described at http://exmouthroadies.blogspot.com/2009/03/i-saw-some-funny-things-today-on-my-way.html

Since then I've realised that both are simply regular Drama Club members who enjoy making audiences laugh, whether on Budleigh Salterton High Street or in their Salterton Playhouse hidden down an alleyway off Station Road.


The three-act Ayckbourn comedy which made its London début in 1972 was last staged by the Salterton Drama Club ten years ago. This year's production, directed by Wendy Gomm, includes Mary Logan, Richard Gomm, David Holt and Dianne Nicholls as well as Jenny Roberts and Simon Blissett. They play three married couples whose changing fortunes we observe at a Christmas celebration in one of the couples' homes on successive Christmas Eves.

Absurd Person Singular is being staged at the Salterton Playhouse, starting with a matinée performance on Saturday 20 November at 2.30 pm and then running at 7.30 pm from Monday November 22 to Saturday November 27. Tickets at £7 are available at the Budleigh Salterton Tourist Information Centre, Fore Street. Telephone 01395 445275

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

WW2 100 – 3 July 1941 – ‘Our beloved son’: Private Stanley John Holloway (1914-41) 12th Battalion, Devonshire Regiment

Image
Continued from 11 June 1941 ‘A German platoon fired a salute of honour over the grave’ FLYING OFFICER PETER HAROLD HOWARD PRITCHARD (1921-41)   https://budleighpastandpresent.blogspot.com/2021/11/ww2-75-11-june-1941-german-platoon.html   Image credit: www.FindaGrave.com Stanley’s sad death at the age of 27 stirred various thoughts in me when I first read about it. He is not listed on Budleigh Salterton’s War Memorial, yet his grave is in St Peter’s Burial Ground on Moor Lane. His family were not local, yet he seems to have been killed while engaged in the highly hazardous work of protecting Budleigh against invasion.   The Commonwealth War Graves Commission records him as a member of the 12 th Battalion, Devonshire Regiment with the Service Number was 5627659. According to the same source, his parents were George and M. Holloway, of Hounslow, Middlesex.   Tackling this WW2 project chronologically as I am, it was clear that Stanley had died on the same day as Private Clifto
Read more

People from the Past: 3. Reg Varney (1916-2008)

Image
Reginald Alfred 'Reg' Varney was an English actor, most notable for his role as a cheerful Cockney bus driver in the 1970s TV sitcom On the Buses . For ten years he lived at Dark Lane House on picturesque Dark Lane in Budleigh Salterton, seen above.  Millions of television viewers remember him with affection. He has been described as belonging to the old school of comedians, with his dislike of much contemporary television and his pride in never using swear words to get a laugh. Varney was born on 11 July 1916 in Canning Town, which was then part of Essex but is now part of East London. His father worked in a rubber factory in Silvertown and he was one of five children who grew up in Addington Road, Canning Town. He was educated at the nearby Star Lane Primary School in West Ham and after leaving school at 14, he worked as a messenger boy at the Regent Palace Hotel, pictured above.  
Read more

A home that Hatchard-Smith built: Lavender House

Image
Lavender House, one of no less than 50 houses in Budleigh Salterton designed by Hatchard-Smith   Instantly recognisable with their red and white decoration and their front doors set within brick arches, the houses built by architect William Hatchard-Smith (1887-1987) are still sought after and appreciated by their owners for their elegance and comfort, their sturdy construction and their attention to practical detail. Plans for one of the houses designed by Hatchard-Smith Lavender House, on Moorlands Road , is a four-bedroomed detached family residence built by Hatchard-Smith in the late 1920s when it was originally named Lavenderhay.   Set within what are described as beautifully landscaped gardens of approximately an acre it has recently undergone an extensive refurbishment programme while retaining much of the original charm and character. The stained glass memorial in Budleigh Sa
Read more