Current
Season - 2021/22 |
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"A Fine
Bright Day Today"
by Philip Goulding
28th, 29th and 30th October
LADS return to Lopping Hall with this warm, funny and moving
play about finding love in later life.
Since the death of her
trawler-man husband 30 years ago, Margaret Harvey has lived with
her daughter Rebecca in a small coastal town. Rebecca is moving
out to live with her boyfriend, so when she meets Milton
Farnsworth, an American visiting the area to paint the
landscape, she invites him to lodge with Margaret during his
stay.
Margaret has become set in her ways, dependent on ritual
and superstition, but with patience, humour and cheap wine,
Milton gradually encourages her to relinquish her hold on
control |
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"Gaslight" by Patrick Hamilton
20th, 21st, 22nd January 2022
This classic Victorian thriller was first produced in 1935 and is a dark
tale of a marriage based on deception and trickery. On the surface it’s
a Victorian melodrama, a real potboiler, but it is uncannily insightful
and accurate in its depiction of an abusive relationship.
Why do the lights in the Manningham’s house inexplicably dim? Why do
things mysteriously disappear? Perhaps Mrs Manning ham is losing her
grasp of reality or are there more sinister forces at work? The
unannounced arrival of retired detective Rough, leads to the revelation
of the shocking truth. Set in fogbound, Victorian London this compelling
drama promises to grip its audience from the start.
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"Frost/Nixon" by Peter Morgan 31st Mar, 1st
and 2nd April 2022
In one of the biggest bouts of the 1970s, heavyweight and
disgraced US President US, Richard Nixon, faced a battering from David
Frost, playboy and presenter, who many thought was punching above his
weight. It was a battle of words in which both fought for their
reputation. Could Frost secure an apology from Nixon for the Watergate
scandal? Or would the former “leader of the free world” uphold his
belief in the legality of his actions?Morgan’s described his play as
“a sort of intellectual Rocky.” He drew on the actual interviews to tell
the story of how the British talk show host persuaded Nixon to face
trial by TV and so produce one of the most dramatic and compelling
pieces of news television ever. |
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"The Actress" by Peter Quilter 16th, 17th, 18th
June 2022
Lydia Martin, colourful grande dame of theatre, is preparing
to give her farewell performance before her “make up can’t disguise”
her. Into her dressing room bursts a procession of welcome, and not so
welcome, characters from her career and family to wish her well and to
relive the past.
This bitter-sweet comedy explores Lydia’s relationships with key people
in her life, including her daughter, ex-husband, agent and dresser, as
she prepares to leave everything behind for a new life once the final
curtain falls. |
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LADS' Youtube productions |
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“I’ll be Seeing You” by Peter Harrison
Our production of the radio play "I’ll be Seeing You” is now
available on YouTube. It starts at the beginning of World War II
and is a story told through letters between a Mother and her young son
as he joins up. His choices drive a wedge between them, but we see that
when life falls apart, it often mends in a stronger, happier way than
you can ever imagine.
https://youtu.be/eKf8AlBgxPg “Last Cage Down” by
Peter Harrison
“Last Cage Down” is a short radio play dealing with the final
closings of the mines in the 1980s and what the future held for pitmen.
It is a play of hope and new beginnings, and shows how friendship and
laughter can get you through the darkest of times.
https://youtu.be/ngRrLFb-i6o |
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Babs Oakley and Roger
Barker clock up 135 years collectively with LADS.
Watch the interviews with them on YouTube carried out by Val
Jones and Jenny Skinner and expertly edited and created by James
Harrington. Babs and Roger are so skilled in their craft and extremely
generous in their time and support for everyone who comes along to
'tread the boards'.
Act I: Babs and Roger reflect on why and how they joined LADS, and on
the thrill of performing and being part of a team.
https://youtu.be/1GjwCoyeW7o
Act II: Coronavirus and LADS. Babs and Roger talk about how the
pandemic has affected them and how they have missed the theatre, but how
they have conquered their fears of Zoom and have performed again in the
LADS' YouTube presentations.
https://youtu.be/KofYNreAeYs |
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“A Walk on the Wild Side” in association with
EFDC’s Festival of Culture Come and
join us on our Walk on the Wild Side as we present stories, poems and
dramatic extracts celebrating the animal kingdom and the natural world.
This compendium of entertainment features writers such as Mark Twain,
Rudyard Kipling, D H Lawrence, Edward Lear and Kenneth Grahame, all
performed by LADS’ members.
https://youtu.be/2hAgq_btXfM
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“The Memory of Snow” a radio play by Sian Rowland. Directed by Cathy
Naylor.
“It is now 102 years since the execution of the Russian Royal Family.
In this funny, moving and compassionate play we experience the hopes and
fears of the four young Romanov sisters during their 18 month
incarceration before their deaths in July 1918. It is a portrayal of
how love can win through in the most hopeless of situations.”
https://youtu.be/BLhbiD-U0ng
“Alone/Together” – Directed by Howard Platt
LADS brings you a collection of stories about how the pandemic has both
kept us apart and brought us together – stories of frustration,
laughter, tears and the indomitable spirit of ordinary people living
through extraordinary times”
https://youtu.be/7qbAxEETpIs |
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