Trial by Jury – wickedly updated in Budleigh on 5 December




Fairlynch Museum's 2016 exhibition 'Our Little Clown' is a a centenary tribute to Reg Varney, former Budleigh resident and a much-loved figure among past British entertainers.

Imperial Productions, as locals will know, has been in the business of entertaining audiences in the area for many years.

They are delighted to return to Budleigh Salterton this Christmas with a whacky, wicked and wonderful update of Gilbert and Sullivan’s classic court-room comedy, ‘Trial by Jury’.  























Simon Jones as Mr. Justice Soxon

This hilarious adaptation - by prize-winning composer/lyricist Alaric Barrie - started life as a charity show in the Guildhall School of Law Courtroom and has since been produced at the Inns of Court in London and as part of the New Wimbledon Theatre ‘Fresh Ideas’ season, where it was their most successful studio production ever.



















Robert Felstead and Rebekah Engeler as the litigants - Eddie Gilbert and Angie Sullivan

The show tells the tale of Eddie Gilbert – a Chelsea football player – who is being sued by his ex-girlfriend, cleaner Angie Sullivan, for not going ahead with her planned celebrity wedding. 




















Tom Ward and Alicia Kearns as Jean-Bernard and Cheryl Fernandez-Versini

She calls on her old school-friends and potential bridesmaids Victoria Beckham and Cheryl Fernandez-Versini for support – both of whom know what it is to be a WAG – and flirts shamelessly with the judge in order to get herself a massive portion of Eddie’s considerable fortune. 




















Robert Felstead and Rebekah Engeler 

Eddie, meanwhile, has hired Cherie Booth QC as his brief - a decision he may come to regret.

As well as lovingly updating the original libretto, Alaric has added parodies of many other Gilbert and Sullivan classics, so listen out for tunes from The Mikado, The Gondoliers, HMS Pinafore, The Pirates of Penzance et al.!














Robert Felstead and Rebekah Engeler 

To open the show in Budleigh Salterton, there is the added bonus of a glorious concert of classic love songs from the golden age of stage and screen, with hits by such brilliant writers as Cole Porter, Irving Berlin, Richard Rodgers, Oscar Hammerstein II and Jerome Kern. 















Kirsty Bennett and Philip W. Errington battle it out as Cherie Booth QC (Counsel for the Defendant) and John Masefield QC (Counsel for the Claimant)

Titled simply “True Love”, the concert will lift your romantic spirits to prepare you for the roller-coaster farce that is ‘Trial by Jury’. In the course of a couple of hours, you will literally be taken from the sublime to the ridiculous – and hopefully love every minute of it!

The show plays for one day only – December 5th – at 2.30 and 7.30 in the Public Hall, Station Road, Budleigh Salterton. Tickets are now available at just £12 from the Budleigh Salterton Tourist Centre, 01395 445275.





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